Old friends, new enemies
by Bucky1
Summary: Shinji and Asuka meet on the Over the rainbow, but they have met before, when they were 4. How will our favorite couples attitude towards each other change after having lived together as children before meeting again in the series?
1. Reunions

**Japan****: 2004**

"Is everything going well?" A soft female voice asked. The young Gendo Ikari turned around in his chair to take in the view of his wife Yui Ikari. She was a beautiful woman who he adored. She was dressed in her typical blue shirt and black pants. She stood in the door way of his small office, "I brought you a visitor."

"DADDY" a small boy three year old boy called happily as he charged through the door and jumped at Gendo. He landed in his fathers lap and immediately wrapped his arms around the older man, "Momma said you are making a wrobot."

Gendo laughed loudly for a second then smiled down at his son, "well little Shinji, looks like Momma's been sharing top secret documents with you again." He smiled over at his wife then looked back to his little boy, "but if you are good you can come and see it."

"Oh, boy oh boy a real life wrobot, I can't wait" Shinji said completely fascinated by the idea of the Giant robot his mother told him about. "Can we go now?" Shinji started to tug on Gendos white lab coat.

"As soon as your Momma is ready too, we will go" Gendo allowed a small chuckle then he lifted his son up and set him down onto the floor. "Now run along" he smiled as Shinji ran off to his mother and gave her a big hug. "Are you ready dear?" he turned his attention to Yui.

She nodded and smiled prompting Gendo to smile back, "let us go then." The young Gendo Ikari got up from his chair and turned off his computer. He then joined his wife and son in the hallway of the Gehirn base in Japan.

"So, doctor Akagi approved has approved my selection as a pilot" Yui said as the threesome walked calmly down the halls towards the research lab. "I thought she wanted to do it."

"Hmm… you are correct dear, she did want to do it, but her authority has been overridden" Gendo smiled glancing at his beautiful wife. "By SEELE" he smiled again as Yui quirked an eye brow up. 

Yui thought for a moment then spoke quietly "SEELE wanted me to pilot it first?" This was a startling revelation to her; Yui had assumed that the projects chairperson or another 'Test Subject' would be chosen to test pilot the Eva. But to hear that SEELE had specifically asked for her to do it was, unexpected.

The trio came to a halt at an intersection of the corridor, "this is it, you will go that way to the change rooms." Gendo smiled as his wife wrapped her arms around his neck.

"A kiss for luck" Yui smiled slyly but before Gendo could respond she pulled him in and kissed him passionately. As she pulled away from her husband she smiled again this time a more serine one. 

"Good luck dear," Gendo smiled and wiped a small lock of Yuis' brown hair out of her eyes. He soon remembered the other presence and looked down at the small Shinji Ikari, "wish Mommy luck Shinji."

Shinji smiled up at his father then looked at his mother, "GOOD luck Momma." His face was happy and excited though he had no idea why he just said good luck to his mother. "I wove you" he said adoringly.

"I love you to Shinji dear," Yui said as she bent over and pulled her son into a bear hug, "be good for daddy." She got back up and smiled once again to her husband "love you." With that said Yui Ikari walked slowly down the hall on the right towards the change rooms.

Gendo gently took Shinji's hand and they too headed off down the centre hall towards the control room. "Mommy is doing a very important experiment Shinji, it will one day save the human race. And so will you" Gendo spoke the last part in a soft quiet voice barley even noticed by the small boy, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child. 

Gendo entered the command room with his son and ushered Shinji over to the large glass plate. Shinji ran up enthusiastically to see his mother out standing on a walkway next to a large purple and green robot, "WOW." 

"Who let a child in here?" a woman's voice asked sternly. She was standing next to a computer and taking notes on a notepad. She looked around then asked again "whose child is this?" 

"He is mine" Gendo said from his position behind his desk, "I trust there are no problems Doctor Akagi." Gendo shifted his glance from his son to the brown haired Dr Akagi and frowned. 

"Ah no, no problem Ikari" with that and a slight frown of her own Doctor Akagi went back to her work. "We are ready to begin test" she said hesitantly. 

"Begin" Gendo ordered.

Shinji watched as Yui disappeared into a cylindrical cockpit that was inserted into the back of the robot. He waved happily as the robots eyes started to glow. 

"Synchronization at 43% and rising…."

"What's going on?"

"The pulses are back flowing; we can't get any readings on the pilot!"

"Disengage the system, eject the plug. Get Yui OUT of there!"

"It's no use, the signal isn't being accepted"

"Synch rate at 398%......400%"

"YUI"

"MOMMA!"

*********************************************************************

"MOMMA" Shinji Ikaris eyes flew open and he jerked up in bed. His head was throbbing and his sheets were soaking with sweat, he couldn't breathe. Gasping for air he fell forward and rested his head on his knees, "mother." 

A moment later the only sound left in the room was the periodic sniffling of the fourteen year old boy, pilot to Evangelion Unit-01……

"YEEEEAAAAHHHHH" the enthusiastic cry of Misato Katsuragi echoed through the apartment, "that's the way to start the morning." Misato had of course just gulped down an entire can of beer in one mouthful, as per her usual routine. One thing she neglected to notice was the fact that the Third Child wasn't there to complain on her old and stupid habits. 

"Yo Shinji, you awake yet" She yelled in the direction of the Third Childs bedroom, there was no answer. "Hmm…wonder why he isn't up yet, maybe he's just tired" she frowned at the reason for his lack of energy, not that he had much in the first place. 

"It's Ritsukos fault, she made him do a million tests yesterday. I think I'll let him stay home today." Misato thought for a moment then she smiled at her bright idea, "I know I'll take him with me today, it will do him good to get out of the house."

She pulled herself out of her chair and walked, a little shakily, down the hall to her young wards room. "Hey Shinji I'm comin in" she yelled in her cheery tone then unceremoniously pulled the door open. 

"What's up kiddo?" she said happily. The violet haired woman's smile turned into a saddened expression to see Shinji bent over his knees crying, 'the second time this week.' After making her mental note she then moved over and put an arm around the boy.

Shinji automatically tensed when he felt a strong yet gentle arm wrap around him, he had not noticed his guardians' entry into his room. "M-Misato?" he questioned through a small set of sniffles. 

"It's ok Shinji…I'm here" Misato said in a soft caring voice, she pulled her other arm up around the boy and held him tightly in her arms. "Nightmares again?" she questioned, of course she knew it was the only reason he woke up crying and in a sweaty daze. 

Shinji just nodded his head and then leaned it against Misatos shoulder. A half an hour later he pulled himself away from his guardian and faked a smile, "I'm ok now, thank you Misato."

Misato reluctantly let the boy go and then stood up, "Shinji." Once she knew she had his attention Misato began to tell him of her plan for the day, "Shinji you don't have to go to school today. In fact I'm ordering you to come with me for the day, and bring your two friends…you know, Suzuhara and Aida. Tell them I'll handle the school."

Shinji looked at Misato with a puzzled face "uh ok, where are we going?" he asked thinking this was not very unusual for the NERV operations director. 

Misato smiled and walked to the door, "we are going on a boat ride, to pick up the Second Child and Eva Unit-02." 

"Oh" Shinji said cheering up a bit, "is that the girl you said would be staying with us for a while?"

"Yup, so it'll be good for you to meet her" Misato smiled back at him, "you two will get along just great." With a quick and mischievous wink Misato left the room leaving Shinji alone to get changed ready for the day's events. Little did he know it would be a big day and a major turning point in his life. 

*********************************************************************

"COOOLLL" the overly excited cry of Kensuke Aida rang throughout the flight deck, "this is so awesome." The transport carrying Shinji, Misato, Toji and Kensuke had landed just seconds ago. The Military nut Kensuke had his camera out already and was filming everything in site including the crew.

Of course the crew were happy to be on 'TV' so they were more than willing to wave and joke into the camera. For Kensuke Aida this was the best day of his life, apart from when he got into an Eva entry plug. For Toji Suzuhara it was a nightmare. His special hat he had brought to impress the good Captain Katsuragi had flown off as soon as they landed, and he had been chasing it ever since.

"Oh come here, come here" Toji yelled as he ducked between people and equipment to chase his precious hat. "Hey come on, Shinji gimme a hand" he yelled back to his friend who was still sitting in the transport they had just come from. Toji was surprised when he found a foot step down and scrunch up his hat, "Got ya."

Misato walked up to where Toji was and smiled, "it's good to see you again."

Toji looked up to see who exactly was standing on his hat; it was a girl an exceptionally beautiful young redhead. The girl smiled, "good to see you too Misato. What's with the dorks?" she said pointing to Toji then over to Kensuke. 

At that point a large gust of wind blew and the yellow sundress that the girl was wearing flapped up, giving Toji a good view of her undergarments. "What you PERVERT" the redhead promptly slapped Toji on the face and he jumped back, more like flew back actually. 

"What was that for" he yelled rubbing a very red very sore cheek.

"That was the viewing fee" she said angrily then smiled deviously "quite a bargain nicht." 

Toji stood up and yelled back at the girl, "it's over priced." He then, being the stupid stooge he is, smiled to himself and replied "here's your change." With that he unceremoniously dropped his pants giving the girl a view of his….

Whack! Toji found himself now harbouring two large red hand marks on both cheeks he fell back, again. This time he chose to get up and make a tactical retreat, he could tell this girl weren't worth the pain to drool over. 

"So where is the famous Third Child?" the redhead asked smiling to herself for her victory over the male gender. She shifted her gaze back to the perverse boy who caught a glimpse of her and groaned "ach nein."

"Don't worry Asuka, it's not him." Misato shook her head and waved her hands, "it's…" She looked around and couldn't find a certain brown haired boy "where is he?" 

"I'm here Misato" Shinji yelled from inside the helicopter which they had come in, since they got there he hadn't even left it. "I'm coming out" he yelled as he stood and exited the transport. He saw three figures in the near distance but couldn't make out faces, just the unmistakable figure of Misato. 

Asuka stared off at the transport as a boy exited the main hatch, she couldn't make out any of his features due to her eyes being caught by the suns glare. As the figure approached she found herself speechless, "it can't be" she whispered to herself. 

Shinji approached the group and started laughing at Toji as he saw the red marks on his friends face. "What happened to you?" he asked jokingly, Toji just glared back at the young redhead, "what the?" Was all Shinji could say, his mouth promptly dropped to the ground. 

Misato looked at the look on Shinjis face and smiled, 'looks like he's got a crush already.' She then said out loud "Well you two should meet this is the Third child Sh…"

"Shinji Ikari" Asuka jumped in finally confirming her suspicions her frown from before completely dropping and a fresh pleasant smile formed. "It really is you" she said as she came closer to the boy. 

Shinji began to stammer still getting over the shock, "A-Auska, is that you?" His mouth dropped even further when the Second Child nodded and smiled. "It really is, oh my god." 

Misato Kensuke and Toji watched in shock and horror for Toji as Asuka and Shinji wrapped their arms around each other bringing them into a tight embrace. "Did…I miss something here?" Misato said still bewildered. 

Shinji and Asuka stood there smiling broadly as they embraced "it so good to see you, I thought I never would again" Asuka almost giggled. Misatos jaw officially hit the ground and her tongue rolled out like toilet paper.

"Ok what's going on?" Misato and Toji both yelled at the same time to get the teens attention. "How do you know each other?" Misato continued on her own.

Shinji and Asuka reluctantly broke their embrace and smiled once more at each other, "we are old friends." Asuka informed, "After my mothers' death I was sent to live in Japan for a few years, I lived with a boy named Shinji Ikari." She smiled back at Misato happy that she was reunited with her most dearest friends. 

"How long has it been since you left to go back to Germany?" Shinji asked since he seriously didn't remember. 

Asuka turned back to her friend and smiled, "Almost seven years ago." She sighed a little then smiled again, "and as you know for me that is WAY to long." She looked him over and smiled even more "hey Shinji you're still as cute as ever, still listening to the SDAT I gave ya?" 

Shinji nodded his head with a big grin, he always listened to the SDAT player she had brought for him as a birthday present. It was his fifth birthday and she had to celebrate joining the family so she dragged him downtown and asked him to pick what he wanted. "You're more beautiful then I remember, though you were always the most beautiful to me."

That was Tojis and Kensukes que to fall over and start hyper ventilating. They had never ever seen Shinji Ikari the Third Child talking so freely with someone especially a girl, and for him to be making passes at her that was unheard of. Though they guessed that he wasn't making passes at her seeing as though they both knew each other.

"So you are the Third Child?" Asuka asked her old friend she smiled even wider at his simple nod, "good, now I get to spend some more time with you." 

"Ah you'll be spending plenty of time together" Misato said looking between both teens, "you'll be living with me Asuka in my apartment."

Asuka looked puzzled "how does that let me spend more time with my Shinji?"

"Ah, Asuka I live with Misato as well, so we'll technically be living together" Shinji informed, his reward was of course another tight embrace from the redheaded German.

"That's soooo good, now it will be like the old days, you, me and a whole lotta FUN" Asuka smiled again absolutely over joyed to be back with Shinji. She knew it had been to long since they saw each other…

*********************************************************************

**Japan****: Late 2004 **

"Shinji, Shinji" an old man called as he entered the house. He knew the boy would be home he didn't have any friends and rarely ever played outside. His nephew was what he would call a loner. "He'll be along in a minute" he said to the young girl that was with him.

She had long red hair and was the same age as his nephew; he only hoped they would get along and behave. The two had something very unique in common; both their mothers had died during experiments. 

"Comin" A soft voice called from up stairs, "what is it?" Shinji emerged downstairs and greeted his uncle the same way he always did, though this time there was another presence in the hallway. "Who's dat?" he asked pointing to the young girl.

"This is a friend of your mothers' daughter, she will be staying for a while" the old man said giving Asuka a small nudge forward. "This is Asuka Langley Soryu, Asuka this is Shinji Ikari."

Shinji stepped forward and smiled a little "hey there, I'm Shinji" he outstretched his hand like he had seen grown ups do so many times. Asuka looked at his hand then took it and shook. 

"I'm Asuka, nice to meet you"

A/N: just something I'm doing to get rid of writers block for my two main fics, Memories and 'The End or Beginning'. One night I was reading another fic I can't remember the name, but I was reading that and they had it so that Shinji and Asuka met on an internet chat room before they did in real life. I always wanted to know what would happened if Shinji and Asuka had actually grown up together for a while then were separated then brought back together as Eva pilots. Anyway tell us what ya think and let me know wether or not to continue posting it.        


	2. Waves in the pool

**Old Friends, New enemies **

**Disclaimer: Well I thought I better put one in seeing as though I didn't last time, so here it is. HAHAHAHA Evangelion is MINE all MINE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (I WISH!!!!!)**

Seriously it is not mine its Gainax property so don't blame me that the series is over! It's not MY fault I tell ya!!!!! ^_^ 

**Japan****: Early 2005**

"Hey Baka Shinji, wanna go to da lake?" Asuka Langley Soryu walked along side Shinji Ikari and his uncle on their way home from primary school. The day had slowly grown hot over the skies of Tokyo-2. Asuka looked over at her friend and roommate her eyes were asking him to answer, more like ordering him to. 

The young brown haired boy caught the glare she was giving him and automatically answered, "uh, oky." He was surprised at how fast her glare turned into a sweet smile, this prompted him to smile back and continue walking on home with a much faster pace. 

"You two are getting quite close" Shinjis' uncle looked back and forth between the two children then smiled a little. "I'll get you something to eat and you can walk down to the lake by yourselves. It's not that far and I can trust you Shinji to look after Asuka."

The old man grimaced as a left foot collided with his shin causing an extreme sense of pain to emanate from his foot. "OUCH!" he cried in pain and looked down at Asuka whose face held a great and proud smile. 

She turned her head and smiled at Shinji and they both let out a small chuckle, "Asuka funny." At Shinjis small comment they both burst out laughing leaving a somewhat bewildered uncle clutching his throbbing shin. "I'll race you home Asuka" Shinji said as he took off in a fast sprint, well fast for a four year old. 

"Hey no fair head start!" Asuka yelled a little angrily as she raced after him, she smiled to herself knowing that she would make it to the front door first, she knew a short cut. 

As Shinji ran straight ahead Asuka veered off into a street on the left and then down a small walkway that came out at the front of their next door neighbours. This route had been known to cut valuable seconds off of a race. Panting from the long run Asuka rested herself up against the door, just in time to see Shinji run up the steps. "I win" she called happily.

Shinji just sat down on the steps and smiled up at the red haired girl, after living together for a few months he had learnt she liked to win. He also knew about the shortcut and he COULD have beaten her by a minute if he wanted to, but he thought he should let her win. "Ok Asuka you win" he said with a big grin. 

Shinji smiled as Asuka leaned her head over his shoulder brining her mouth to his ears. "Next time, don't LET me win Shinji" Asuka whispered causing Shinjis' eyes to pop out of their sockets. 

She went inside as Shinjis' uncle opened the door leaving Shinji on the front step thinking, "how does she do that?" He soon shrugged it off then got up he looked out at the sun and sighed his smile dropped and he whispered "happy birthday, Momma."

*********************************************************************

**Present: ****Pacific Ocean**

'Open, open, open. I just found him again and I won't let you take him away!'

'Open, open, open, open. Don't let Asuka die here'

Shinjis' head jerked up and he felt a strange feeling sweep over his body, it felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. His eyes widened as his grip on the Asukas hand tightened and hers copied him. The feeling shot through him and a high pitch noise emanated through the Entry plug of Evangelion unit-02

With a burst of might the great red mecha, using the B-type equipment, lifted its head in water and its four eyes glowed bright white. The underwater Angels mouth was pried open just in time for the bows of two large battleships to career right into its mouth.

As soon as the guns on the cannon began to fire Asuka and Shinji willed the red beast to jump to the surface. Above on the surface a tidal wave erupted as the forward cannons unloaded their explosive power into the Angels mouth. 

Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida and Misato Katsuragi watched from the bridge as chunks of Angel   flew out of the water. "Where's the Eva?" Misato asked worriedly, "Shinji, where's Shinji and Asuka?" 

As if to answer an unsaid prayer the bulk of Unit-02 landed roughly on the flight deck of the 'Over the Rainbow' and jettisoned its entry plug. "Get a medical team out there stat."

Shinji opened his eyes to see the LCL draining from the plug and his head resting against the back of the chair. He smiled as he realised what had just happened, they had won against the odds. He looked down at the redhead sitting in the chair her eyes were locked on him and she held a happy smile. "Are you ok Shinji?" she asked still not taking her eyes off him. 

Shinji smiled at her concern and just nodded, "I'm fine, thanks to your piloting." She smiled even broader at his comment then she frowned a little, "what?"

Asuka chuckled a little then answered, "Don't try and give me all the credit. Of course I had my trusty side kick Shinji to help me, but if you tell anyone I said that I'll kill you, got it?"

Shinji shook his head but he still held a great smile, "just like old times huh?"

Asuka winked at her old friend "yup just you, me unit-02 and 01 saving the world." She smiled as far as her lips would allow the moment of silence between the two extended over a minute until light spilled through the newly opened hatch. 

"Shinji," Misato called worriedly, her eyes and expression on her face showed an overwhelming amount of concern. "Are you two alright?" she shifted her gaze to take in both of the teens, "anything wrong?" 

Shinji just nodded but Asuka felt it necessary to comment "of course there's nothing wrong! I was piloting after all." She used the mock anger tone Shinji had heard so many times before, and so many times wished to here it again. "What are you laughing at?" she snarled a little too realistically when Shinji began chuckling.

The brown haired boy cringed and he dropped back and smiled sheepishly, "sorry." He scratched his head then suddenly remembered what he was wearing, "Ah….Misato could you get my clothes?" He looked down at the red Female plug suit and tried to cover it from the inevitable view of his friends. 

"Hey Shinji" too late, Toji had peered into the entry plug and had seen him, "hey Kensuke bring the camera." He yelled happily to the other stooge, "Look what Ikaris wearing."

"HAHA" Kensuke burst out laughing at the sight of Shinji with a female suit on, "Nice figure." He laughed pointing at Shinjis red plug suit, both stooges continued to laugh until…

"SHUT UP DORKS" Asuka screamed piercing the ears of all within a twenty mile radius (yeah that bad!). Once all was silent, except a few people crying about their ear drums, she spoke again "if any of you IDIOTS ever tease my Shinji like that I'll rip your balls off and use them as a tennis balls. Got it? Good."

Misato for the second time that day was forced to keep her jaw from dropping to the ground. The operations director of NERV had been to Germany and got to know the Second child for a while, but this she never saw. 'Asuka sticking up for Shinji? Hmmm this could make life a little more…interesting.'

*********************************************************************

"Hey Shinji over here bud" Toji yelled over the loud chatting of the classroom, he had seen Shinji enter the door of the room and directed him over to where he and Kensuke were sitting. 

They were seated in their usual back corner and chatting about the previous day's events. Kensuke as usual was watching the tape he had recorded while the attack was happening. Toji stood up and gave Shinji a welcome slap on the back, "what's up big shot?"

Shinji Ikari smiled and sat down in an empty chair "nothing much, what you got there Kensuke?" 

Shinji pointed to the camera and Kensuke smiled broadly, "its yesterdays attack, I got it all on tape. Hey you were really awesome in that fight." He smiled at Shinjis slight blush both the stooges knew that Shinji got flustered easily. "Really, it was all you and not that Asuka."

"Speak of the devil" Toji said as he pointed to the video cameras screen where an image of the redheaded German pilot was held on pause. "Man she is hot, but she's a real bitch!"

Shinjis face screwed up instantly and he could feel his fist begin to clench, "she's not a bitch." He growled through clenched teeth in a low voice, "don't call her that."

Toji and Kensuke turned around and looked surprised at Shinji who was sitting there looking like he was ready to punch someone. "Yo take it easy hot shot" Toji said lightly, "you're gonna blow a blood vessel."

Kensuke looked at the brown haired boy a bit longer then spoke "yeah Shinji, Toji didn't mean it. Did you Toji?" He looked at his other friend then made a face that said 'answer yes.' Toji just nodded and Kensuke spoke again, "you really like her don't you?" 

Shinji now visibly calming down nodded and answered "yes, she's my first ever friend. We grew up together and I haven't seen her in nearly seven years."

"And we're gonna make up for that my dear Shinji" all three boys looked back and noticed the girl in question standing next to them in a school uniform. 

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! It's HER" Toji cried in terror as he pointed a finger at Asuka, "what's SHE doing HERE?"

"Good question DORK" Asuka walked quickly to beside Shinji and smiled broadly, "I wanted to come to school with Shinji." She winked at the brown haired boy, "and I have to pay you back for seeing my…yeah you know what I'm talking about." 

Toji jerked back and flushed bright red, "Ahhh, you, you already got me back. I got bruises to prove it!" 

Asuka leaned over the desk that separated the stooge from her, "I don't think that was enough. There's only one other boy who's seen me like that and it ain't you!" She pulled her left hand up to Tojis forehead and flicked him. 

Meanwhile Shinji just sat there with the biggest blush anyone had ever imagined, not that either of the stooges noticed. "Asuka, what are you doing here? Didn't you already graduate from collage?"

Asuka turned her attention back to her old friend and smiled again, "like I said I wanted to spend more time with you, and meet some new people. What place is better then a school?"

"Oh ok then" Shinji blushed even more, if it was even possible. 

"So where's the other one?" Asuka asked looking around the room.

"Who?" Shinji answered.

"Who else, the first child of course" She said a little annoyed at her friends density "did you grow dumber over the years or something. Or was it just a side effect of me leaving?"

"No, the First Child, she's over there. Her name is Rei, Rei Ayanami" Shinji pointed out over to the only place in the room where there wasn't a crowd of people. There next to the window sat a blue haired girl just gazing off into space. 

Asuka left the stooges and walked over to the First Child, "hello, you must be the pilot of the prototype? I'm Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu nice to meet you. Let's be friends."

"Why" was the only response from the girl, she didn't even look up or in any other way acknowledge the seconds presence.

The redhead just looked at Rei and sighed, "BECAUSE, it would be convenient." Her voice was slightly agitated at the fact that the other girl was giving her the cold shoulder. 

"If I am ordered to I will" Rei answered in a sombre voice, her gaze never shifting from the outside world. 

"Freakazoid" Asuka said simply then she turned around and returned to the stooges, "What's with her?" 

"Oh Ayanami doesn't get along well with anyone" Toji answered then a small, devilish smile appeared on his lips. "EXCEPT, with Shinji. They get along WELL" he added making sure to emphasize on certain words. 

"What, no, no I don't. We barely ever talk" Shinji defended but he could not deny the fact that he did seem to get along with the First Child better than anyone else. He looked up and saw Asukas face contort from hurt to angry. 

"So Shinji found a replacement for me after all" Asuka said in anger she turned her back to him and stormed off to the other side of the room to talk with the class representative. 

"TOJI" Shinji yelled, "Why did you do that?" He was now angry that Asuka was angry at him. 

"Lighten up Shinji" Toji joked "it was a joke buddy, so calm down"

'She doesn't know that, and you don't know her' Shinji sighed and looked over at the other side of the room. He caught a glimpse of Asuka staring at him but as soon as she saw she turned around. 'She looked hurt' he though again, 'I'll have to talk to her later.'

*********************************************************************

"Asuka wait up" a tired Shinji Ikari yelled trying to catch the redheads' attention. The walk had been silent and spent trying to keep up with Asukas fast pace, he knew she was avoiding him for some reason. "Asuka, I said wait up."

They were now walking through the residential section of Tokyo-3 and had made it halfway home. Asuka had barely been settled in and they were already fighting, 'like old times' Shinji thought as he tried to get alongside the German girl. "Asuka please what's wrong?"

Asuka kept her stare dead ahead and made no motion to answer his question, 'you know what's wrong Shinji, you were my Shinji no one else's.' She sighed prompting for Shinji to stop walking, 'Shinji, you're no longer mine. I've been away too long and you have found someone else. What's worse is it's that bitch the First Child, I hate her already.'

Shinji stood there letting Asuka gain distance between them, "Asuka…" he sighed deeply then started walking again, this time slowly to give her some space. 'Why are you ignoring me? Why push me away? Damn you Toji, idiot.'

A/N: YAY second chapter done. I have been able to do a quick section of the sixth Angel, I'm not going to concentrate that much on the fights, except the seventh and eighth. So the sixth is irrelevant.

Ok now Asuka is pissed off for some reason due to some stupid comments from Toji. Will Shinji be able to figure out what is wrong with her before the next Angel attack? And if not how will her state of mind affect the battle?

PS: no I did not rip off any other stories I was only aware of the internet one, can't remember the name. Anyway I had no idea there was one similar to my own as I said before I just thought this up and wrote it to get rid of writers block ^_^ Damn Writers block, oh well don't seem to have a problem on this one ^_^

Thanx to Dennis for da pre-reading! 

Seya on da other side………..                                                                                    


	3. How does one fight an Angel?

**Old Friends, New enemies **

**Disclaimer: Ok peps I am getting very, very, very, VERY sick of disclaimers! So death to all disclaimers MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..HA ^_^**

**It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone **

**An hour to like someone **

**And a day to love someone **

**But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.**

                                      Quote from Strike Fiss's homepage  

**Japan****: Late 2005**

Shinji and Asuka had just started their daily walk to school accompanied by a friend of the family. Miyuki was a nice young girl around 17 that lived down the road from Shinji and Asuka. They had met one day at the park where Shinji and Asuka were playing in the sand pits. Of course Asuka was persistent in destroying anything they made after they made it.

"So, what are you two up to today?" Miyuki asked the two children beside her. She was asked to take them to school seeing as though the high school was only five minutes away from the primary. 

"We are going to a fair!" Asuka said happily as she put a hand on Shinjis shoulder. "Baka Shinji is going to go on the roller coaster with me, aren't you Shinji?" Shinji didn't answer he just kept walking quietly thinking to himself. 

"Asuka, you shouldn't call Shinji a Baka, it's not nice" Miyuki said frowning at the girl. Ever since Asuka had learned the word she always used it when referring to Shinji, even when it hurt him. "And you can't go on the roller coaster they're for grown ups."

"I'm grown up" Asuka stated proudly, her head shifted to look at Shinji who carried a saddened expression on his face. 'What is wrong with Shinji?' she thought to herself. In a short time they arrived in school and Miyuki said goodbye telling them she would walk with them home. 

A few moments later and they found themselves rounded up into the bus and on their way to an annual fair that was held every year. Asuka was ecstatic she couldn't stop jumping around and wriggling in her seat. She constantly joined in on the spit-ball fights and paper plane throwing, all while Shinji sat there looking more sombre than ever.

"Cheer up Baka," Asuka said playfully to her companion. Of course Asuka didn't let anyone sit next to Shinji but her and if someone else tried she'd kick them in the shins. "What's wrong with you?" she asked finally settling down into her seat. 

Shinji just stared blankly off into space until Asuka waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Uh…" he gulped when he saw the hand, "s-sorry." He looked down at his knees and didn't raise his head for a long time. 

"Like I said cheer up we are going to a fair and you aint going to spoil it for me Baka," the young redhead snarled.

"Stop it" Shinji suddenly yelled, causing the bus to go quiet.

"S-stop what, what's wrong Shinji?" Asuka asked nervously her voice was full of concern. She had never, in the year that she had been with the brown haired boy, seen or heard him yell like that, "What is it Shinji?"

Shinjis face contracted from the angry look and turned back to his sombre one, "stop it please." He sighed and looked up at Asuka, "stop calling me that Asuka…please."

Those few words whispered barley audible worked even more than when he had shouted a second ago. Asukas face became saddened 'I hurt him by calling him dat; all I do is hurt people. Not anymore, Shinji is my best friend and I won't hurt him!' "I-I'm sorry Shinji, I won't call you Baka again."

"Thank you" Shinji sighed lowering his head once more.

"Shinji" Asuka said softly, brining Shinjis head up with her hand "don't be sad, don't be upset. It hurts me to see you like dat, please be happy." 

Something about her voice, and the look in her eyes made Shinji smile, not a fake smile but a real one like they had shared before. He nodded and took his friends hand in his "ok Asuka, for you…we'll sneak onto a roller coaster."

Asuka brightened up and her little hand clenched Shinjis tightly, "you're da best Shinji!"

*********************************************************************

**Japan****: Present**

"Ok guys this is it" Misato Katsuragi, operations director of NERV said into the comm. "The seventh Angel has arrived off the coast; due to the last battle Tokyo-3 defence systems are badly damaged. So you will be dropped in at the shore where you will engage the target cooperatively. In other words back each other up and take turns."

"Roger that Misato" Asuka replied from within her entry plug of Unit-02. She looked over at the image of Shinji Ikari and sighed 'I'll show you, I'll show you I'm better than that blue haired bitch. Then you'll come begging for my…what the hell am I thinking? We…could never be like that…he…he's my best friend.'

"Asuka" Shinjis voice snapped the redheaded pilot out of her musings, he looked down at her image from within his entry plug. "Asuka, I have no idea why you're mad at me but…I'm sorry. B-be careful" with that the boys' image flickered out of existence. 

"He…he is sorry, for what?" Asuka whispered to herself not even realising her Eva was rapidly descending to the ground. "Shiest!" she finally noticed the fact that the transport planes had released her Eva over the targeted drop zone. She quickly gained control over her decent and landed loudly on the beach. 

Unit-01 pounded into the ground next to her and she smiled at how well he handled the Eva. At that point she recalled someone telling her about his first battle, '40% synch ratio without prior training. That's my Shinji, always full of surprises.'

"Let's do it" Asuka smiled confidently to herself, "Cover my back Shinji" she added in thought 'I'll make you mine again.' With the thought of a fresh victory in her mind Asuka Langley Soryu charged head first into battle. She willed her giant red Mecha to leap forward onto the roofs of sunken buildings. 

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled as he started laying down a cloud of suppressive fire. 'What do you think you're doing?' His finger pulled on the trigger of his butterfly controls causing a stream of bullet and tracer fire to rocket towards the Angel. It looked like a play dough man you know pointy feet pointy arms and just, clay looking.

Asuka charged forward bringing her large Eva style spear up into the air, with a powerful thrust she ripped the spear through the Angels body. The Angel ripped open with a loud squishing sound and Asuka just laughed, "Pathetic Angel."

"Well I'll be damned, good work Asuka" Shinji smiled broadly. 

"See" Asuka started her victory speech, "a fight should be quick and elegant, without waste." Asuka heard something yelled over the comm but she didn't have enough time to ask what it was. Her eyes locked on to the Angel and she gasped in horror. 

The Angel began to bulge where it had been split in half. Asuka jumped back pulling the Eva style spear with her, "what's going on?" A second later the Angel split completely apart, each side was standing separate. Then she saw it, a new core. The Angel had sprouted a new core on the other side of its split body. 

After its new core appeared the Angel regenerated itself, but not back into one. It was now two separate beings each equal in size and mass. Asuka groaned at what she saw and then decided that her earlier actions were a bit to hasty. "OOOHHH I'm gonna kill you for making me look bad."

Without thinking about it for a second time Asuka charged forward and sliced at the first Angel with her spear. She missed as the Angel pulled off to the left. The second used her misjudgement to its advantage and used its arm to smash her unit-02 on the head. The first then used its foot to kick Asuka in the stomach then grabbed unit-02 lifted her above its head then threw here into the water. 

"Asuka" Shinji stared terrified at the scene he was witnessing, 'Asuka, they're ganging up on her.' The two Angels continued their double assault on the red Eva without acknowledging the presence of the purple unit-01. 

He wanted to help, but he couldn't. He couldn't move. His mind was sending messages to his body telling him, begging him to move, but his body wouldn't respond. "Mustn't runaway, mustn't run away, mustn't runaway…I can't."

**FLASH**

Young Asukas voice, "Shinji, don't run away stand up to them. They're just bullies, you are better then them!"

**FLASH**

"S-stop, stop…stop…STOP IT!!!! NOW," Shinji screamed, his voice laced with anger. He pulled hard on the control yokes and his Eva responded with a leap into the air. As the Evas' feet hit the ground Shinji found the Progressive knife already in unit-01s hand. Shinji came face first with his first target; the Angel was in mid fight holding Eva unit-02 high above its head. 

"Put her down, NOW" his arm pulled up brining the Prog knife to pierce into the Angels stomach. He pushed with all his power trying to gouge the Angels core out, his actions weren't meant to kill the Angel but was to get it away from unit-02.

Shinji watched as the Angel dropped Asukas Eva, he sighed in relief but he knew it was not over. Asuka brought her Eva back to its feet and pulled out her Prog knife, "I'll take care of this back off Shinji." 

Shinji was taken aback by this comment, he realised she had said it with anger; this was not the Asuka he knew. He had expected a thank you from her first, and then he thought they could work together to kill both targets. She sounded extremely pissed off. Shinji was even more taken back when he was pushed backwards. Not by the Angel, not by the Angels double, but by Asuka. 

He struggled to regain his balance and ended up falling onto his back in the sea, "what are you doing?" His question was unanswered; even if Asuka wanted to answer she wouldn't get the chance because she was thrown back where Shinji was, by an Angel. 

*********************************************************************

"This is PATHETIC" the blond scientist and chairperson of Project-E yelled in disgust. Though Shinji couldn't see her face because it was an audio clip he knew Ritsuko Akagi would have looked pissed, and I don't mean drunk.

"I can agree with that," Kouzou Fuyutsuki sighed as he viewed the image of the two Evas lying upside down in the bay. "What were you two doing?" he raised his voice to the two pilots standing before him. Before either could answer he started again "NERV is not here to create grotesque spectacles such as this. Just what do you think your job is?"

Asuka turned her angry gaze away from Shinji and replied, "To pilot the Eva of course." She used a slightly defiant tone in her voice and her gaze was that of pure flames, threatening to incinerate anyone in their path. 

"Wrong!" Kouzou yelled causing Asuka to involuntary flinch, "your job is to kill the Angels. You two will have to learn to work together."

"Why should we?" Asuka yelled back sending the sub-commander a little off guard. "HE" the redhead pointed to Shinji, "stuffed up my first mission. If you had of been covering me like I told you to…"

"ME" Shinji yelled back making everyone in the room flinch, "you disregarded procedure and went off in there half cocked. You acted stupidly and jeopardized both the mission and your own life! NOT to mention the lives of the support crew and my own." 

Shinji's words were hard hitting and effective, Asukas' face dropped the nasty scowl and contorted into an apologetic and sorrowful one. "I-I…" hearing Shinji say that to her made the young redhead realise where her mistake was, the only problem was admitting she was wrong. "Shinji…I…I didn't know…I…"

Shinji looked away off into the shadows of the dimly lit briefing room, "Sub-Commander are we done yet?" he asked in a deject voice. He didn't want to think at that point about his redheaded friend, probably his ex friend now he was thinking. She had been mad at him for a while now and he didn't even know why. She probably didn't like him anymore or something; Shinji almost let a tear escape his eye, almost. 

"Unfortunately yes, you two will remain on standby until we call for you" The sub-commander sighed. "You are dismissed for now and are not to leave the Katsuragi Apartment until further notice."

Shinji walked straight out wanting to get as far away from NERV and Asuka as fast as he could. He could just see his fathers' reaction to the bill for the damages and such caused by this incident. "He'll probably chew us out all over again" he whispered as he turned into the locker room.

Asuka was left standing in the briefing room alone; the sub-commander had resigned to his paperwork and the tires of running an organization. Slowly Asuka placed her hand on her forehead "good one Asuka, you just blew it with Shinji. Now that bitch will be his friend and you'll be left behind." 

A/N: MWHAHAHAHAHA I'm so mean to Shinji at the moment, oh well he'll thank me later! Well there goes another chap of my writers-block killing fic and damn it is working ^_^ I'm really getting back into it. Sorry I have been sick for about a week now so I haven't been up to writing fics or doing anything. 

Anyway how will my Synch training differ? When, if at all, will Rei come into the story? And what new crazy things will I eat for dinner tomorrow….that none of your business!!!!! 

Seya on da other side………..                                                                       


	4. Apologies are the hardest

**Old Friends, New enemies **

**Chap 4: Apologies are the hardest**

A Bucky corporation Fan-Fic

**Enter Bucky: HELLO all are we ready to begin?**

**Enter Asuka: Hell NO! My make up aint here yet and my bagels have been stolen!!! I can't work on an empty stomach!**

**Enter Shinji: I'm ready……I think**

**Bucky: ok that's good, Asuka can't you skip breakfast just once?**

**Asuka: Breakfast? Who said anything about Breakfast?**

**Bucky: Then why are you complaining about Bagels?**

**Asuka: Oh THAT breakfast, yeah that's my third**

**Bucky & Shinji: WHAT????!!!!!**

HEHEHEHEHE just trying out Seldons suggestions ^_^

**Japan****: Present**

"Shinji!" the violet haired Misato Katsuragi yanked her head, which had been attached by drool, off the table as the door to the apartment slid open. She was, as usual, sleeping on top of a pile of notes, bills, complaints and reports. It was after all the Operations Directors job to handle all of these individually, hence the pile of empty beer cans and chocolate bars on the floor. 

Shinji Ikari walked silently into the apartment and slipped his shoes off, his eyes never left the floor as he made his way to the bathroom. He stopped for a second at the door and thought, he soon said loudly enough for Misato to hear "I'm sorry for causing all that paper work." With that the brown haired pilot slid the door to the bathroom shut concealing himself inside.

Misato sighed loudly and looked towards the bathroom, "poor kid. Why does he think it's his fault? If its anybodies fault it's Asukas." Misato looked over toward the front door where she expected the Second child to walk in any moment. 'I saw what she did to him, she pushed him away…literally' she slurped from her almost empty beer can and sighed, 'I'm gonna need more beer! Maybe I should ask to go half with Pen-Pen for a keg.'

A second later the redheaded German opened the door to the apartment and came running in. "Shinji" her eyes scanned the whole apartment before she looked at Misato "where is he?" 

The violet haired woman scowled at Asuka and shrugged her question off, "why should I tell you?" Misato didn't want to be mean to Asuka; she had no idea why she was. Something inside told her that Asuka had done something wrong to her Shinji and Misato was not very pleased, not by a long shot.

Asuka caught the hurtful scowl from her 'guardian' and scowled right back at her, her comment had pissed the redhead off. Of course she should tell her where Shinji was, why shouldn't she? "Where is Shinji?" Asuka repeated seething with rage. 

"Leave my little Shinji alone, you've done enough damage" Misato shouted her voice showing as much anger and authority as possible. "He was starting to get better before you came along. I thought you were supposed to be friends! Yet for the last day and a half you've done nothing but scowl at him and ignore him!" 

The redhead jerked back a little but soon regained her foothold on the situation "YOUR Shinji, YOUR Shinji. He's MY Shinji, I knew him before you were even a figment of his imagination!" Asuka raised a clenched fist "YOU are just an old drunk who pay's to much attention to my Shinji."

"WHAT did you say?!" Misato slammed her fist down on the table and stood up "I'm not OLD and I'm not a DRUNK. And SHINJI is NOT YOURS," the older woman's voice softened a little "he's not mine either." Misato looked the girl over and could see her body was shaking from rage…or was it something else? After her voice had calmed down she spoke again "Asuka, go to your room and don't try speaking to Shinji until I say so."

"WHAT!! No WAY, I'll talk to him if I want to" Asuka yelled her eyes seemingly drawing new anger to burn off. "If you think you can stop me YOU are WRONG…."

"GO NOW, that's an ORDER" Misato finally let her last remaining rage fly and it was not pretty. Contrary to what people think about the level headed woman she could be quiet the Unit-01 berserker herself.

Asukas face twitched with rage and she felt it necessary to punch the wall before finally giving up and walking down the hall. She stopped at the closed bathroom door and came to the conclusion he was in there. She slowly reached her left hand for the door handle until "I said room, NOW." The redhead dropped her arm and grunted before heading off to her bedroom. 

All while this was happening Shinji Ikari lay in the bath, his head deeply submerged under water trying to drown out the sounds of the fight outside. 'All I do is hurt people…all I do is cause pain…'

*********************************************************************

In a dark and mouldy room hidden deep within the Geo-Front and NERV HQ two figures stand before a tank of glowing yellow LCL. Gendo Ikari and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi looked on at the floating form of Rei Ayanami with expressionless faces. 

The blue haired girl looked on with an equally expressionless face, though her mind was reeling over an event the day before. She thought of the Second Childs arrival and her seemingly well developed relationship with the Third Child. She was wondering how the presence of this girl could make Shinji act so differently.

She then thought of the Seconds proposal to her a word she had heard many times before but never used herself. Not knowing the answer to her questions bugged the First and she spoke up, "Commander"

Gendo looked up at Reis face a little surprised for her sudden sounds; she usually remained silent during these tests. "Yes Rei?" he answered when he regained his composure. 

Rei looked from the Commander then to Doctor Akagi then back to Gendo, "what is…a friend?" Her voice was still emotionless, except the tinge of curiousness. 

The bearded man looked to his companion then back to Rei, "a friend, why do you ask?"

"I was requested by the Second Child to become her…friend" Rei stated staring blankly ahead. "But I have no knowledge of the word friend" she continued "I wish to know what this is?"

Gendo smiled a little at the First Child and then nodded to Ritsuko who began a description "A friend is…someone you can trust. Someone who makes you happy to be around, makes you laugh, smile and…well that you like to be around."

Rei studied the words carefully then came to a conclusion "is this the same as love?"

Ritsuko shook her head "in a way yes, love is a feeling you get when you are around someone who is possibly your friend or someone you might not even know. They make you happy for different reasons."

Rei once again studied the words that were given to her, "then this would be an accurate description of the Second and Third Childs relationship?"

Gendo shook his head and looked Rei in the eyes, "the Second and Third are friends, they grew up together and have developed…a bond. A sort of love you may call it, but they are no more than that." Gendo was confident with his answer, he knew his son was to wimpy to be more than a friend with someone, let alone the Second Child at least he hoped.

Rei felt a new emotion at the Commanders description of the other Children's relationship…relief. Why did she feel this, did she have feelings for Shinji? Her mind pondered these possibilities "if love makes one feel things when around another then…"

"Then what?" Gendo said firmly.

Rei looked down at the frown on Commander Ikaris lips then sighed inwardly, "nothing commander…" 

*********************************************************************

**Japan****: early 2006**

"Shinji" Asuka whispered quietly as she slipped through the darkness of the room towards the sleeping Ikari. "Shinji, Shinji are you awake?" she said again her voice getting just a little louder. She let out a quick cry as she bumped her foot on something hard, his bed post.

Shinji jerked up at the sudden noise and looked around trying to find a logical explanation, seeing none in the pitch black he concluded it was the imaginary ghost in his closet. Yep Shinji had a ghost in his closet; actually his uncle used that as an excuse to get him to get to sleep at night, "go to sleep or the ghost will get you!" he would always say. 

He laid his head back down on the pillow and tried to go back to sleep still not noticing the other presence in his room. Asuka slipped up beside Shinji and listened to his soft breathing; a second later she pulled his covers up slightly and began to wriggle in next to him. 

"AH" Shinji squeaked as he felt her body rub against his, "AH the ghost is REAL!" 

Asuka quickly clamped her hand over his mouth and whispered "no silly, it's just me. I…I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you tonight?" She slowly let go of his mouth allowing his answer to come.

"Y-yeah sure, just don't try to steal my blanket" he said while moving over allowing her more room to sleep. 

Asuka flipped around so she was facing Shinji and she smiled, "thank you Shinji." He smiled in return then closed his eyes. "I…I dreamt of my momma" Asuka blurted out, she had to tell someone and Shinji was the best person she knew and trusted. "She…she died and she was asking me to come with her…I didn't want to Shinji…I didn't want to die…" 

Shinji felt his bed begin to get wet as crystalline tears flowed from the girls eyes he sighed seeing his friend unhappy. He slowly pulled his arm up and put it around her shoulders bringing her into a big hug. "It's ok Asuka" he said softly just holding his friend tightly. 

"Thank you…Shinji…" Asuka sobbed her tears slowing down as she pulled her arms around Shinjis shoulders. "You're my best friend" she smiled feeling no more need to cry, "Shinji?" Shinji just hummed his response "don't leave me, please?" 

Shinji smiled and held her even tighter, "Don't worry Asuka, you're my best friend and I wouldn't leave you. Besides who'd wake me up in the morning?" they both chuckled quietly and soon settled in comfortably. After a few minutes they were both lulled to sleep, still holding each other like they would never let go.

*********************************************************************

**Japan****: Present**

Shinji pulled his blanket over himself and began tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep tonight, not after what had happened. It was already 1:00 am and he only just got into bed, so he doubted he would sleep much. 

He finally settled for a spot on his back where he could once again take in the view of the ceiling. He contemplated listening to his SDAT player but dismissed the idea, to many memories of her. That's what he wanted to avoid thinking of.

Moments passed and he soon found his brain unwilling to cooperate, so his thoughts drifted to the young redhead in the next room. He unconsciously turned to his side and faced the wall trying to avoid that line of thinking. But he couldn't help it, why did she hate him all of a sudden? 

The two were the best of friends for their younger years for four years to be precise, yet she was back with him and all she did was scowl at him. Why? Why was she so distant from him now, what changed her? His only answer was the answer to everything bad in his life, Eva. 

"Eva, NERV, Angels…Father"

'Who is bad?'

"Father is"

'Why? Without him you would not have met her'

"He abandoned me, and so has she…so has she"

'I wouldn't bet on that'

Shinji opened his eyes and looked around, somehow he had drifted to sleep and now he was awake. He looked over to his clock and sighed 1:05am he had only been asleep for five minutes, "this is going to be a long night."

"You can say that again"

The brown haired boy jumped at the sudden sound of someone else's voice. Was he dreaming, had the voice from his room reappeared? No…it was familiar, he wasn't dreaming, "Asuka, what do you want?"

The redheaded German moved from her entry point over towards Shinji, "I…I couldn't sleep." Her words were spoken softly barley audible to the young Ikari, though he heard them. 

"To pissed off about loosing to sleep, or was it pissed off at me?" Shinji said deject laying his head on his pillow, trying to hide in it. He heard no reply but more soft footsteps. He soon felt the presence of his intruder as he could feel her breath on the back of his neck. 

Asuka leaned down over her friend and whispered "I…I'm sorry, I was wrong to do that to you…I'm sorry." She felt him tense underneath her gaze but she continued "Shinji, I had another nightmare…can…can I?"

"No…" Shinji sighed he didn't want to say that, he just did. Asuka pulled back he heard her sigh deeply then the sound of her footsteps trudging back through his messy floor. "Wait" he called, he heard her stop "only…only if you promise not to steal my blanket."

Asukas face brightened and she suppressed a giggle at the words he had said many times when they were young. She moved back towards his bed and watched as he moved over slightly. She lifted the blanket and slipped into the bed just inches away from Shinji. 

He was still facing the wall but he felt more relaxed, Asuka slowly placed her arms around the boys' waist. She felt him tense again then relaxes as he placed his hands over hers. "I'm sorry…I don't want you to be angry at me. I could take anything but that."

"I'm not…" Shinji whispered back, he felt the redheads' hands tighten around him and their bodies pulled closer. 'Its' going to be hard to sleep now' he thought for an entirely different reason than before. 

Asuka closed her eyes and placed a soft gentle kiss on the back of her companions' neck. He shuddered slightly at the sensation, and so did she. 'What…why did I do that? What was that feeling?' unsure of her emotions at this point Asuka opted for sleep.

Like many times before the two teens were soon deep in sleep still as close together as possible…

A/N: Well that ends another chapter for this series, I know it's short but I still don't have much stamina -_- Anyway I'll be faster in getting the next chap out cause I already have it mostly planned out. 

Well Asuka seems to have apologised to Shinji and they are friends again, but when Misato introduces her new plan to the teens Asuka will be very, very pissed off. Find out why when the Synch training begins in the next chapter!! 

Seya on da other side……..


	5. Synch Training?

**Old Friends, New enemies**

**Chap 5: Synch Training???**

**Bucky Enters again: Hey guys I'm here, let's start**

**Eva crew: Oh no, we aint ready**

**Bucky: Come on can we at least try to get some work done today?**

**Shinji: Umm…Bucky, uh Asuka is refusing to do any work today…**

**Bucky: Why, what is it this time?**

**Shinji: Well…uhhh…we…uhhh were kind…up late last night…if you know what I mean?**

**Bucky: No I don't know what you mean**

**Shinji: Uhhh….you know**

**Bucky: Oh just spit it out man!!**

**Shinji blushing furiously scratches the back of his head whispers to Bucky**

**Bucky: OHHH, crap TOO MUCH INFO!!!!! ****(Bucky starts gagging) **

Sorry all just read a lemon damn perverted thoughts are stuck in my head….don't worry it was my first time reading one and I had to see what all the fuss was about. I'M not usually a pervert…much…HEY I'm a healthy 16 year old…damn shouldn't have said that (Bucky starts running away the police come chasing after him with handcuffs) By the way the Fic was Body-Heat by Axel and Disaster, check it out it's pretty good even for a lemon… 

As Shinji would say, sorry…. ^_^

**Japan****: Present**

Shinji woke suddenly at the loud annoying sound of his alarm, it was only six am and he defiantly did not set the alarm. He groggily pulled his numb arm out of the covers and slapped his hand down on the loud beeping machine. He soon realised that his arm was numb and wondered why exactly. He thought for a moment then shrugged it off as he laid his head back down. 

"Hmmmm…." Shinjis eyes went wide, he now knew why his arm was numb and also why he was feeling a little…pressure down below. With his senses returned he could now feel the presence still huddled tightly to his body. The sound of soft breathing was all he could hear as his had suddenly stopped from the shock of realisation. 

The brown haired boy slowly turned himself around in his bed, now coming face to face with two deep blue eyes. He smiled remembering why exactly the redhead was curled up next to him. Asuka smiled back her eyes staring into his never looking away for a second, "morning." Her voice was soft much like it had been the night before. 

Shinji just smiled at his friend then shifted onto his back, breaking his gaze that had centred on her blue eyes. "Maybe you should go back to your room" he whispered staring vacantly up at the ceiling. "Misato might get the wrong idea if she sees us like this" he was blushing slightly but it went unnoticed. 

"No, I want to stay a bit longer. She can think what she wants to" Asuka said yawning loudly. She pulled herself closer to Shinji and put an arm around him, "thank you Shinji…you were always there for me. Last night I had the most peaceful sleep in seven years, thanks to you."

"Y-your welcome, what are friends for?" Shinji smiled sheepishly before closing his eyes. His thoughts soon returned to the alarm and why it went off, "did you set my alarm?"

Asuka who was pondering on Shinjis statement failed to answer his new question, 'friends…that's what friends are for. This isn't something you feel around a friend' she thought while unconsciously placing a hand on her chest, 'I wonder…I wonder if he feels this too? Or am I just going mad?'

"Asuka" Shinji prompted getting the redheads attention, "did you set it?"

"No" Asuka answered finally remembering his question, "I thought you did." They both shared a look of puzzlement then shrugged. 

"I believe I could answer that" the voice was not unfamiliar; it was a little too relaxed considering the current situation. Shinji and Asuka sat up and spotted the figure standing in the doorway and both began to stumble out of bed. "Oh don't get up on my account" Misato teased, she smiled broadly at the two teens that were very embarrassed.

"M-Misato…it's not what you think" Shinji began as he fumbled to find something a little more substantial to where other than his sleeping boxers. "Asuka was just…I mean she…just sleeping in the same…"

"It's ok Shinji" Misato said calmly smiling at the poor confused boy, he held a gaze that just begged the question 'why?' Misato thought it only fair to tell them how she knew "your father sent me the reports from when you two lived together. This isn't the first time you've done something like this."

"What!" Asuka screamed she had now extradited herself from both the boy and the bed and was now standing in the middle of the room wearing practically nothing. "They kept reports on us, but that would mean…"

"Yes" Misato sighed answering the unfinished comment, "you were both chosen as Eva pilots from when you were three. After both your mothers died you were assigned to live together until Asukas training in Germany took place at the age of seven. You did not meet by accident; it was no twist of fate you lived together."

"Umm…Misato," Shinji scratched the back of his head trying to get his guardians attention. "Uh why did you set my alarm for six am in the morning?" it was still bugging him and Shinji really didn't want to talk about the past, though it was a somewhat happy one…sometimes. 

Something inside Misato snapped and she quickly remembered why she had woken Shinji up so early. "Oh yeah that" she said while motioning for the two to follow her to the kitchen. They all walked quietly into the kitchen where they sat down at the table. Shinji sat next to Asuka and they both sat opposite Misato. "Just wait a moment, she'll be here soon" Misato said as she reached over for a beer. 

Shinji and Asuka exchanged puzzled looks then looked back at Misato who just gulped down a beer. Shinji looked back over to Asuka who was beginning to shiver in her sleeping attire, which was just a shirt and pair of panties. He suddenly remembered the jumper he had picked up on his way out of the room and handed it to the redhead. "Here, it's cold" he smiled as Asuka gratefully accepted the woollen jumper and slipped it on. 

Misato smiled at her two young charges who just until recently had been fighting and ignoring each other. Now the two seemed to have made up and were back to normal, well as normal as two kids who pilot forty story high robots could be. Misato sighed inwardly repeating to herself something she had known from the very beginning, 'this burden shouldn't have been placed on them.'

A cold silence stretched out over the group until a loud ring was heard from the front door. Shinji got up and walked over to the door, he peered out the peep hole and then retracted the latch and opened it. In front of him stood the beautiful figure known to him as Rei Ayanami, with her blue hair and red eyes. "Ayanami?" Shinji said a little confused. 

"Oh come on in Rei" Misato yelled cheerily to the door, "Shinji why don't you get our guest something to drink?"

"What," Asuka yelled loudly still remembering the comments that Toji and Kensuke said about this girl being close to Shinji. "What is SHE doing here at this time in the morning?" Asuka was now standing and waving a clenched fist. 

"I asked her to come to discuss the parameters of the next mission" Misato switched to her Major of NERV voice prompting Asuka to sit down. "Now Rei why don't you have a seat" Rei and Shinji both joined the other two women at the table, with Asuka making sure Shinji sat next to her.

"Now" Misato began still in her military voice, "as you all know the 7th angel is still very much alive. We were able to injure it with the use of an N2 mine but it will be battle ready in about four days. Due to the Angels ability to duplicate itself we cannot attack it normally. The only way to kill it is to instigate a simultaneous two point attack. In other words attack with two Evas that are completely synchronised."

"So what your saying is we will learn a certain fighting pattern and both Evas will have to move as one?" Asuka concluded being as smart as she was. Misato nodded and Asuka smiled triumphantly, "then why do you need the three of us?" 

Misato shook her head "I don't one of you is here but not really meant to be." Before anyone could comment the violet haired woman continued "the two pilots will have to learn the moves and be able to achieve a 100% synch ratio with each other. There can be no room for error on this or it will all be over before it began."

"Well that's easy" Asuka declared proudly she pulled an arm up around Shinjis neck and shook him gently, "me and my Shinji will be able to do that no sweat."

Misato shook her head "I'm sorry Asuka, due to your actions in the last battle you are effectively grounded from this one. Shinji will be paired with Rei for this operation. It is your own fault that you will not be able to accompany Shinji in this battle and therefore you should learn your lesson."

"WHAT," Asuka jumped to her feet once more her face was now seethed in rage and her fist was clenching tight enough to see her veins. "NO way, this sucks I'm not going to sit by and let Shinji go into a battle with that LOW class fighter. Her synch scores are barley over the 30% mark and you expect her to Synch with MY Shinji? God she couldn't Synch with a doll!" 

"I am not a low class fighter" Rei stated in her famous monotonous voice. She looked at Asuka from across the table "and I believe Ikari and I will have no problem synchronising together." Rei stared at Asuka and tried to recognise the redheads' emotional response, 'is that jealousy?'

Asuka whipped her head in the direction of Shinji who was just sitting there as usual and like usual he had the same clueless face. "Shinji why don't you say something, you're my friend and you're suppose to help me. Shinji are you even listening to me?"

"Uh…huh?" Shinji snapped out of his private musings and looked at Asuka who growled verbal abuse towards the First Child. "Ah, Asuka" he whimpered trying to get his friends attention, "ah I don't mind trying to Synch with Rei."

"WHAT," the young German girl slammed her fist down in front of Shinji, "that's not what I'm talking about. It's the fact that she'll be spending too much time with…" Asuka stopped in mid sentence, 'was I about to say that?' She pondered this fact for a second but was interrupted by Misato rambling about something. She looked over to the brown haired boy who seemed to be…happy. 'Why is he happy is it because he'll spend time with her?'

Shinji watched on with amusement at the way Asuka and Misato were arguing. 'Why does Asuka protest so much? She really values her status as a pilot' He looks back toward Rei who is still sitting with the same expressionless face. When the blue haired girl noticed Shinji her lips upturned slightly giving Shinji the view of an amazing smile he had only seen once or twice. He smiled back unknowing that Asuka was glaring at him. 'Maybe it won't be so bad after all' he mused as Asuka and Misato continued to argue.

*********************************************************************

**Japan****: Early 2007**

Asuka moved quickly around the play equipment dodging poles left and right while trying to avoid being hit by the ball. She and a group of friends were playing brandy a form of dodge ball of sorts. The objective of the game was to trow the ball at your opponents and if you hit them they would take your place of being 'it'. But if they caught the ball you would remain 'it' and would no longer be able to 'tag' the person who caught your throw. 

It was one of Asukas more challenging games which she played with the boys and girls from the next year level. Of course the boys and girls from her level were no challenge for her, except one. The only reason Shinji Ikari did not participate in the game was because he didn't like the concept of people bigger than him throwing a ball at his head. "I'm not a walking target" he said every time Asuka asked him to play.

The way the young seven year old boy would dismiss the game made Asuka doubt that was the real reason he didn't want to play. She had her suspicions some of which involved the boy's usual timid behaviour towards others and some that didn't. One that Asuka had suspected was he had found a couple of other people to play with, ones who didn't throw balls at him. On the other hand she had a nagging suspicion that he had found only one other person to play with and she was terrified of that one person for one sole reason, it was a girl. 

Asuka stopped thinking long enough to dodge an incoming shot by one of the other girls who were currently 'it'. Her mind cantered back on the game and she soon found herself climbing up onto a platform to gain a vantage point. The young redhead quickly surveyed the playing field taking every little escape route into account. There were five other players due to this the era of play was decreased to an equipment area not even a quarter size of the oval. 

While taking in the view of the playing field something interesting caught Asukas eye. Over to the left of the play equipment where she was sat the small sand pits. In the sand pit was where a recognizable brown haired boy was playing and making a sand castle. What caught her eye the most was the brown hair that didn't belong to Shinji, it was long and in pigtails. This sight was enough to make the young redheads blood boil up. 

"Hey Asuka, you're it" a voice called as the small tennis ball slammed into her gut. Asuka looked puzzled as she gasped for air; apparently someone had noticed her staring off into space and decided to tag her while she was vulnerable. The young German looked down at the ball then back over to the sand pit at her friend. "I'll teach him" she stated picking up the ball. She carefully selected her target which happened to be a boy called Adam who was in the direction of the sand pits.

With her target selected Asuka jumped off the platform and landed with a thud, Adam stared in awe as not even he could land that jump perfectly. With this momentary distraction Asuka drew her arm back and then sent the ball hurtling towards the stunned eight year old. As she expected the ball missed, just as she had planned it to. The other kids laughed because now she would have to go get the ball from way over there, but that's exactly what she wanted. 

Asuka ran up to the ball and picked it up off the ground she was now several feet away from the brown haired boy who was facing the other direction. She pondered her approach for a few seconds but when she saw the other girl pat Shinji on the back her mind said 'SCREW TACTICS!' She stormed over to the boy and forcibly grabbed him by the ear "Shinji, we need to talk NOW."

"AHHHHH…..A-Asuka? OUCH…let go" Shinji whaled as he felt the pain of being jerked up by his ear. He decided to pull himself up so the pressure to his ear would be less, "Asuka, what are you doing? Ouch that hurts…" 

The young redhead scowled at the confused girl sitting on the ground where Shinji used to be. After staring daggers at the other girl for a while she walked off dragging a complaining Shinji behind her by the ear. Once far enough away from both her friends and Shinjis new friend she stopped and released her death grip on the boy, "just what do you think you are doing?"

Shinji rubbed his ear unconsciously and just stared at his friend for a minute, it took him a while but he soon answered "Ahhh…making a sand castle." His dumb response was enough to make the redhead fume, "A-Asuka calm down I was just playing with Remi, my friend." 

Asuka scowled "oh, so I'm not good enough anymore? Just because I go and play some big kids games you go and find yourself another best friend." Her voice was cold and angry showing him that she was both hurt and upset. "Who exactly is she? Is she your girlfriend?" Asuka asked sarcastically, though she dreaded the answer.

"W-WHAT?" Shinji stammered almost falling over, "Remi my g-girlfriend….no way, nu uh." The brown haired boy was now waving his arms in defence "she's just a friend."

"Just a friend huh?" Asuka asked sticking her face close to Shinjis, "you better be telling the truth or I'm going to hurt you when we get home." She gave him her meanest look then pulled back a little, "now go tell her that you are coming to play with me."

"But…but I don't wanna play your game it's painful" Shinji whined, the look he was receiving from the redhead told him to obey or die. "Ahhh…ok…ok" he stammered "sorry Asuka you know you will always be my best friend."

Asukas face lightened up for a second then hardened a little "Shinji you can also tell her to stay away from you because you are mine. Tell that damn little girl that you're my boyfriend and if she comes near you again I'll squash her like a bug."

"A-Asuka?" Shinji just stared at his friend dumbfounded for a whole minute before she lightened up and smiled. 

"Shinji" she said a little more soothingly, "you are my boyfriend ok? And I don't share." Asuka closed in a little and quickly gave Shinji a peck on the cheek, "when we are older I'll give you a grown up kiss. Promise you'll give me my first, and I'll give you yours."

As soon as Asuka backed away Shinji fell on the ground from complete shock, "uh huh…ok…promise" he managed to stutter before attempting to stand. 

The young redheaded German smiled sweetly then grabbed Shinji by the hand and dragged him back towards the sand pit. "Remember Shinji, you promised and I'll hold you to that!"

*********************************************************************

Ok peeps I'm gonna leave it there now for tonight. It is 11:09pm and I have exams so wish me luck. I know in retrospect it's pretty short, only really two scenes but it is 3000 something words so hey. Anyway that little flash back at the end will play an important role during the Synch training and after as well.

Rei is going to be paired with Shinji, well we all know what that means don't we. In the next ep find out how Synch training is affected when you want to be doing it with someone else instead of your partner. Well it's late so ill seyas lter and wish me luck again ^_^ all say a little prayer to Unit-01 for me, after all Unit-01 is now god floating among the stars an eternal proof of mankind's existence.

Seya on da other side……………………..                                                                                                              


	6. One heart, one mind

**Old Friends, New enemies**

**Chap 6: One heart, one mind**

**Bucky: Yo peeps I'm back again, I love to be free!! Year ten Exams are now officially over and so is school, therefore giving me three months to work on my all time favourite thing….Fic writing…and sleep ^_^**

**Misato: Oh great three months of HIM!!**

**Bucky: Hey Misato, I'm BACK. Hey…wait a minute…that's my stock pile of beer hey give it back…come on give it back that's mine!! (Bucky starts chasing Misato around the room, Misato holding a box full of beer and spirits)**

**Shinji: Those two get along worse than us!**

**Asuka: Shinji, you're forgetting how well we get on now**

**Shinji: oh…err…well you know what I meant!**

**Asuka (giggling): Oh you are so cute when you blush**

**Shinji: Hey…quit that!**

**Misato: HAHA you'll never catch me ^_^**

**Bucky: GET BACK HERE, NOW**

**Asuka & Shinji: This is going to be a long night (both sweat drop)**

**Japan****: Present**

Asuka pushed aside her school books and sighed in frustration. Her room had slowly grown dark as the sun drifted out of sight leaving her in the lonely darkness. She had been home for the last few days because she refused to go to school, there was no way she would leave Shinji home alone with 'Wonder Girl'. Misato of course had argued that Asuka shouldn't let her grades slip, which begged the retort of I'm a collage graduate.

After living with Shinji for the four or so years Asuka was forced to move to Germany. She didn't want to but being that age she really didn't have any say in the matter. After her NERV training began she was sent to attend a school there where the principal piked up on her extremely high intellect. So she was skipped ahead a few grades, then a few more then they finally sent her to a local collage. There the young redhead was able to complete a minor in phycology and a major in physics and she also took a few side courses. 

As she looked back on those days she remembered how hard they were in comparison to the time spent in Japan with Shinji and his uncle. She could remember nights like the one two nights ago except back then she didn't have her best friend to comfort her. Continuing to think on these lines soon brought her to the one nagging question, what does Shinji mean to her? She had tried over the last two days to answer these questions by herself but was very unsuccessful, more to the point she had failed miserably. 

Asukas hard concentration was broken by a loud groan and a resulting door being closed loudly, she could even hear the dull thud as the boy dropped into his bed in the next room. "Break time" Asuka smiled as this had been the routine for the last three days. The angel would be regenerated by tomorrow night and ready to attack the next morning. This was not a good thing as Shinji and Rei had problems with their synch drills. 

A moment later and the door to her room opened revealing a tired looking First Child though she hid her fatigue well. The young redhead groaned loudly and stood from her work table, "what do you want wonder girl?" 

The blue haired girl looked over to Asuka then thought of her answer she selected the appropriate one in seconds. "Major Katsuragi has told me to update you on our progress" she stated in her monotonous voice. Asuka glared at her with her 'well tell me' look. Rei interpreted and answered, "We are at 39.95%."

"HA" Asuka laughed loudly "only one day left and you can't Synch with Shinji, you really are pathetic. I could have done it by now. Maybe I should go and try" Asuka placed her hands on her hips and initiated the Asuka Stance™ which she used often when defying authority figures, not that Rei was one.

"No" Rei answered quite fast and sternly her face shifted to that of a frown and she almost scowled at the redhead. Asuka did scowl at the first child but the blue haired pilot just ignored her, "it is my destiny to become one with Ikari. This is one way of achieving my purpose."

"What the hell did you just say?" Asuka yelled loudly her voice had suddenly become agitated and annoyed. 

Rei looked the redhead over and repeated, "It is my destiny to become one with Ikari do you have a problem with this pilot Soryu?"     

"Hell YES" Asuka shouted at the top of her lungs undisturbed by the fact that Misato was probably sitting outside the door listening in. "You just sat there and calmly told me that you want to 'Become One' with my best friend, you sick bitch."

"What is wrong with becoming one with someone?" Rei asked confused and also wondering what a sick bitch is. 

Asukas mouth dropped, 'does she even know what she is saying? Probably not from what I know of her she's a damn doll.' With that the redheaded German came up with her answer of a simple but firm "YES"

"Why?"

"Uh…because Shinji is…not like that"

"Why would Ikari not want to become one with me?"

"Are you stupid?! Shinji just doesn't go around having SEX with anyone"

Rei was in one word, shocked. This new word that the redheaded German used was strange yet sounded familiar. 'Perhaps another word for becoming one' she thought while staring off into space, 'what is this sex? And why would Ikari not do it with just anyone?'

"Hello" Asuka snapped her finger in front of Rei trying to get her attention, "anyone in there?" The first child's eyes regained their focus and she looked at the second child. Asuka taking this as a sign of her 'opponent' returning to reality decided to continue, "Shinji is not that kind of person, he would only do that sort of thing with someone he loves. And EVEN if he did do it with someone he would wait until he was of LEGAL age." 

"Does age matter with this?" Rei asked still confused at the words the German girl was speaking. 

Asuka rolled her eyes back and sighed loudly, 'I hope Shinji can't hear this.' She looked to the door then back to the dumb 'Blue haired girl' (as opposed to dumb blonds) "Yes age does matter. It's against the law to do…that when you're young, don't you know anything? Where have you been the last 12 years of your life, on a mountain?" 

Rei looked puzzled even more, 'is this sarcasm? The second Child seems to be… mocking me. Why does she protest to me becoming one with Ikari?' Dismissing the redhead's last question, due to the fact that Commander Ikari didn't want anyone to know Rei was raised in a tube of LCL. She started her own line of questioning "why do you object to me becoming one with Ikari?" 

The redhead was taken aback, but she wasn't going to let it show to this girl, "I think it isn't right to do that sort of thing at our age…and plus he's my best friend and I'd hate to see him get hurt by a little slut like you!" Asuka smiled to herself 'that should do it!'

"I do not believe that is correct" Rei answered, she made a mental note to ask Commander Ikari what sex and a slut are. The blue haired Eva pilot waited till she had full attention of the other girl, "I think that you do not want me to become one with Ikari because you yourself wish to become one with him. Is this correct?"

"What?! Of COURSE I DO……..not, I mean…ah….I…do….no….oh…uh" Asuka grabbed at her throat and started to rub it hard trying to drive away the lump that was mixing up her words. Of course it was a futile effort because her throat wasn't what was making her say the things she was, it was something else and it defiantly wasn't her brain. 

"GET out WONDER GIRL!!!" the redhead not being able to control her mouth decided on the best and most effective solution to her problem, push Rei out the door! And it seemed to work to, Rei offered no resistance as she was pushed out into the hallway nearly colliding with an eavesdropping Misato. "MISATO!!!" Asuka slammed her door shut trying to stop herself from strangling both women and most importantly to hide her huge blush. 

On the opposite side of the door the violet haired Misato Katsuragi took a gulp of her beer, looked at Rei, then at Shinjis door, then back to Asukas. "So…." She said in an innocent voice, "what did you two talk about?"

Rei turned to face the major and looked at her quizzically "you know what we were talking about you heard the whole conversation, did you not?" 

Misato blushed a little then smiled, "you got me there Rei. So you both like my Shinji hey? Just don't hurt him or I'll have to kill you both, he's like the son I never had and I don't want him to get hurt."

The blue haired pilot nodded silently then started off towards the kitchen; she stopped about halfway down the hall then turned around. "Major" Misato looked up and smiled as her answer, "what is a slut?"

The family three doors down heard the loudest thump of the year as a certain Majors' jaw dropped through two floors of concrete.

*********************************************************************

"Eva LAUNCH"

The two giant Mechas stood side by side in the launch bay just waiting to hear that one word. Shinji and Rei both pulled the lever that released the umbilical cords and launched their respective Evas. Unit-00 and 01 both blasted their way through the tunnels that led to the surface and one pissed off Angel. 

Prior to the operation the Angel attacked a small town on the outskirts of Tokyo-3 so the UN had to intercept. They were able to drive it away from the town but ended up wasting nearly two platoons of tanks and scud missile launchers. Not to mention the five VTOLs that were shot down by the Angels particle beam. 

As the two Evas neared the end of their vertical passage Shinji switched the com-link to the private channels. "I hope this works" he said unsure of wether the two pilots were ready to do the proposed task. The image of Rei stayed expressionless and her mood was unfazed. Shinji just sighed and cut the link, "89.9% Synch Ratio, this won't work."

Shinji concentrated hard as his purple Eva flew up into the air above the Angel. As the two units reached maximum hight allowed by their velocity they drew out their Progressive Spears and extended them. Both taking aim carefully they threw the spears almost simultaneously right into the centre of the enemy. 

Both Evas landed with a loud crash and they jumped off in opposite direction towards their respective gun towers. Each pulled out their weapon of choice and started running towards the now cloned Angel. Both targets looked identical and were both as fast and manoeuvrable as the other. 

Shinji pulled the trigger of his pallet gun sending numerous bolts of high powered bullets flying through the air. All of his shots hit directly on the Angel on the right which was his designated target. Rei was firing quick burst of her positron rifle at the other target blasting away chunks of the Angels' flesh. 

Shinji and Rei both dropped their firearms as they clicked out of ammo and became obsolete. It was now the Angel's turn to return fire and they did, both using their powerful particle beams fired bolt after bolt of high powered yellow energy.

The Evas were already moving in step with the moves they had spent the last four days learning. They both back flipped over and over again dodging blow after blow from the Angels'. Shinji smiled thinking how well it was going so far, but fate as it would seem was not without a sense of humour, a very twisted one. 

At that very moment Reis Eva slowed by no more then 2.3 seconds and she copped a rough blast to her torso. The blue Mecha went down with a loud crash taking with it half of the buildings beneath her. Shinji stopped flipping and jumped to the side dodging a blast aimed for his Evas head. 

Shinji lifted his Eva up and looked towards Rei where the Angel known as Alpha was headed towards. The other, Beta, was headed straight for him. At that point a new com line came in, an image of Misato appeared "Shinji, the plan has failed we are sending Asuka up and we'll try for an all out assault."

Shinji sighed and bowed his head "I'm sorry Misato, I'm sorry it didn't work."

"Shinji it's not your fault" a new channel opened up and Asuka appeared in the corner of his screen. "It was Wonder Girl who fell out of step, don't worry now I can come up and we can ditch these assholes."

The brown haired pilot smiled at his friends' confidence, she was always so upbeat and ready for anything. He wished he could have her attitude, especially now. 

A few metres away from the downed Unit-00 a hatch opened and the red giant Eva Unit-02 burst out holding two Pallet guns. As she pulled up to the surface Asuka let a barrage of machine gun fire rip through the air towards the Alpha target. The bullets seemed to lack the necessary power to penetrate the Angels hard skin but it did have the quantity to keep the Angel from advancing on the downed Eva.

This gave Rei enough time to pull her Unit-00 up to its feet and withdraw from the battle. Her Eva was badly damaged and was unable to continue fighting so she made for the nearest access shaft. 

Shinji pulled his Prog knife out of his shoulder holster and then brought the purple Mecha up to the Beta target. He let out a loud cry as his Prog knife drove forward and punctured the Angels torso, sending green Angel blood flushing to the street below. The stabbing of the Angel was going quite well as Shinji had hoped, until something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

Asuka dropped her two Pallet rifles as they were both spent; she withdrew a large spear and awaited the Angels counter attack. The large pillar of smoke that had resulted from her constant firing was showing no signs of disappearing. A minute passed and the smoke had still not cleared, but the Angel hadn't emerged "HA. That'll teach it not to mess with Asuka Langley Soryu!"

A loud crack erupted and Asuka was sent flying to the ground, a burst of agonizing pain shot through her back as the Eva registered the attack. The smoke ahead of her finally cleared revealing nothing but air. Alpha had somehow managed to sneak up behind her using the smoke as a screen to disguise its escape. Then it had blasted her from long range with its particle beam. 

"ASUKA" Shinji immediately withdrew his Prog knife from Beta then pulled his Evas right foot up to the Angels stomach. With one mighty thrust he sent the Angel flying threw buildings and crashing to the ground. The purple Mecha was already off before its enemy hit the ground. Shinji willed his Eva to jump into the air and kicked at the Alpha Angel. 

His Evas foot landed true to his aim and sent the Angel crashing forward. Once Shinji had steadied his Eva once again he grabbed the Angel by the head and lifted it up off the ground. "DIE" Shinji screamed as he rammed one time and time again into the Angels red core, though it was useless because he had to hit both cores at the same time.

Suddenly the Purple Eva fell to the ground and a loud beep echoed through the entry-plug. "NO" Shinji turned his head to the side as the world around him disappeared. To his left was the screen he hate most of all, Internal Batteries 00.00 "Shit." He looked back ahead of himself and pounded on the butterfly controls, tears streaked down his face as he prepared for the worst. "I'm…sorry…Misato, Rei…Asuka."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Shinji bolted up straight, his head and bedding drenched in sweat. Panting he looked around the darkness still reeling from the terrible images stuck in his head. His breathing started to settle slightly as his brain latched onto where he really was, "dream, more like a nightmare." 

He leaned forward trying to catch his breath and keep himself from reliving the nightmare. A moment later his door almost flew off the hinges and a figure ran inside, Shinji felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around him and he looked up to see Asuka standing next o his bed. 

"Shinji, what is it?" the redhead asked frantically her voice was dripping with concern for her friend. "Are you ok?"

Shinjis eyes went wide and he started feeling Asukas face making sure it was there, not wanting it to be a dream. Once he deducted she was real he pulled her into a tighter embrace and began to sob against her shoulder, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what? Shinji…what…what was it?" Asuka asked even more concerned now seeing that her presence triggered his reason to cry. 

"You…they…they…oh god" he held her even more tightly and she tried her best to hold him back. "I thought you were…I mean, they…they killed you, and I couldn't do anything"

Asuka found herself fighting back her own tears, she held Shinji tighter to show him that she was there. "Shinji, it was a nightmare. I'm still here, I'm still with you and you know I'll never leave you. Just quieten down and try to sleep." With those words whispered softly she lowered the sobbing boy back into the bed. Once he was lying on his back she slipped in under the covers next to him and held him tightly "see I'm not going anywhere."

*********************************************************************

A/N:

YES another chapter done HEHE I'm getting better at this I think….I don't know could be my imagination. Well at least it's getting easier to write now that I don't have school in the way. Amazing how school saps your creativity sticks it in a blender and hits smoothy! Oh well anyway school is gone and my imagination is back so you can expect more fics from me over the next two or more months.

YES, on that line I have officially obliterated my writers block on 'Memories' and 'The end or beginning?' so that means you can keep an eye out for the final chapter of Memories and some more from 'The end' also my Asukas POV 'A stolen Kiss' will have it's second chapter posted soon, based on Asukas thoughts during the 17 hours Shinji was sucked into the 12th Angel, with a new ending ^_^ 

Anyway, what is the significance of Shinjis dream? Does this mean the plan Is doomed to fail or will he be able to avoid it? And also what is with Rei and Becoming one? ALSO what will Asuka do about her conflicting feelings towards Shinji? All coming up next in 'Time for Battle!' 

Started on Friday at 12:30pm Finished Saturday at 2:19am (After watching three eps of Zoids and Aliens Resurrection)

Seya on da other side…………………..                                                                                                                                   


	7. Time For Battle!

**Old Friends, New enemies**

**Chap 7: Time For ****Battle****!**

**Bucky: Hey has anyone seen my beer?**

**Misato: Nope, not since I drank it!**

**Bucky: Why you little!! (Grabs Misatos neck and chokes her Homer Simpson style)**

**Misato: EHH people…reading…too many…witnesses**

**Bucky (looking at readers): DOH!!!!!!!!**

**Asuka: IDIOTS**

**Shinji: Why are they idiots? **

**Asuka: That's not how you choke someone! You should know Shinji you did it to me twice in End of Evangelion!**

**Shinji (defensively): Not by choice Asuka you know that! It was the director and producer I tell ya!!**

**Asuka: Yeah! Damn that ANNO I'm gonna choke him when I see him next! **

**Anno: What was that Miss Soryu?**

**Asuka (wincing): N…Nothing sir**

The sun rose like it always did in the morning, though this morning the light came at a different angle. The fiery young redheaded Asuka Langley Soryu rolled over trying to block the emerging sun from her view. In vain attempts to gain more sleep which she drastically needed Asuka pulled the set of white sheets up to cover her face. At this point of time her brain finally caught on to something. She sat up in the bed and looked out the window into the brightening day; this was strange as her bedroom didn't catch the sun for another half hour at least.

"Oh that's right" Asuka sighed in relief as she let her head drop back down to the pillow. "Damn Shinji your room doesn't allow for sleeping in" her eyes were closed and she waited for the sheepish response from the boy. After two minutes of silence she opened her eyes again "Shinji?"

Asuka rolled over to find herself the only occupant of the bed; she looked around the room trying to see if he was already up. She found the room in disarray which was something unusual for the Third Child. He was a very tidy person from what she remembered from childhood he hated messy rooms. But what the redhead saw in front of her WAS a mess. There were clothes thrown out on the floor SDAT tapes lying scattered among what looked like empty food parcels and a couple of boxes stuffed into an open wardrobe. 

This was a startling discovery that her once clean friend had turned into a slob, if she didn't know better she would think Misato was his biological mother! Now that to Asuka was a frightening thought. "Where are you Shinji?" the redhead whispered almost to herself as she got out of bed. 

Still dressed in her blue shorts and yellow tank-top, Asuka made her way through the mess toward the door. It was funny to her that the room looked like this now but she had no trouble getting in during the middle of the night when it was dark. Strange she could've sworn it wasn't like this last night. 

After reaching the door the redhead decided to forget about it and made her way down the hall. She checked the bathroom first only to find an overflowing wash basket and a bathing Penguin. Next stop was the laundry, 'maybe he's getting it out of the way.' Like the bathroom there was nothing but dirty clothes in the laundry and no sign of Shinji. 

"Where are you Shinji?" Asuka echoed her thoughts without realising she was talking to herself. Just then she heard a loud beep and then a thud from the living room, which was decided as her next destination. Upon entering the room Asuka found Shinji lying face down on a matt in the middle of the room. 

The living room had been converted into a training room for the First and Third children while they 'tried' to synchronize. The TV and couch had been moved to the side of the room and in the middle where a coffee table used to be was a large plastic matt covered in dots of varied colours. The matt looked kinda like an old game from Pre-Second Impact called twister, although different Asuka could still see the similarities. She was once invited to a collage party where her friends all got drunk and played Twister; she chuckled at the memory of that night.

"What's so funny?" Shinji asked while sitting up on the matt, rubbing his sore face with one hand. His other hand was positioned in front of himself on the ground to steady him. He was staring up at the redhead who had just been laughing, supposedly at him, "hmm?"

Asuka flushed a bit red thinking she was a bit stupid for laughing like that, seeing as Shinji thought she was laughing at him. "I wasn't laughing at you!"

"Oh no, then what?"

"Um…would you believe nothing?"

Shinji just smiled and shook his head. Asuka thought for a moment them just smiled "ok maybe a little." She emphasised by making a pinching motion with her thumb and index finger on her right hand. She smiled again walked over to where Shinji sat and plonked down next to him. "Why are you up so early? No one is up yet so why are you?"

The young Ikari just yawned loudly, tried to cover his mouth with his hand, then laid down on his back. "You know" he started, "if someone had of told me a year ago that I'd be doing this, I would've called them crazy. I mean who am I? A nobody that's who I am, so why did I get pulled into this?" 

Asuka was a little confused, she had asked why he was up early and he had dodged the question by asking his own. "Uh…I don't know, maybe they just see talent when they look at you, how the hell should I know?! And anyway that wasn't my question I asked what are you doing up so early?"

"Would you believe couldn't sleep any longer?" Shinji just chuckled when Asuka shook her head. "Ok maybe not" his face contorted into that of concentration and seriousness, "you know what happened last night. That nightmare was the most terrible I ever had, ever. We launched as planned and Rei and I engaged the angel, it was going well. But, our timing was off. Rei was the first to go down, after her I tried to fight, so did you. Then they…got you and I…I ran out of power."

"Shinji it was just a dream, damn you take everything so seriously. You were always like that. And that doesn't explain why you are down so early" the redhead gave Shinji a light slap on the shoulder hoping to beat some answers out of her friend. 

The brown haired boy sat up and cleared his throat, "I didn't want it happening for real. I couldn't bare the thought of you, Misato, Rei or even…even my father, dying because I failed. So I got up and now I'm going to train if it takes me all day and all night. I'm going to learn this and teach those Angels how to dance like an Eva." 

Asuka stood up and smirked wickedly; she moved her hands down to her hips and initiated the 'Asuka Stance™' (Copy Wright, Asuka L Soryu 2004-2040). "Shinji, you got the right spirit, so that's why I'm gonna help you…BUT…"

"But?"

"You have to do something for me in return"

"Does saving your life from the Angel count?"

"Nope!"

"DAMN!! What is it you want?"

"I'll tell you tonight. But until then let's turn you into….for lack of a better word ME"

"WHAT??!!"

"Well you wanna be the best pilot don't you? Well you have to be more like me."

Shinji scratched the back of his head thinking something along the lines of 'what did I get myself into?' He knew that there would be a heavy price to pay for Asukas help, there always was. Ever since she was little Asuka had prided herself on thinking of ways to spend her 'I owe u's'. 

*********

A loud buzzing noise echoed through the darkened room causing the single occupant to stir beneath her sheets. On top of the futon in the centre of the room only a large lump could be seen under the white sheets of bedding. A moment of rustling about later and a slender foot slid out from its warm comfort, it stomped around a few times trying to find something. After a few more tries Misato Katsuragi was rewarded with the bliss of silence, she had effectively shut the alarm off without having to get out of bed.

This of course was a normal routine so the violet haired Major had much practice using her foot as a remote control of sorts. With the alarm now silenced Misatos foot returned under the blanket and she resumed her slightly hung-over slumber. She was just about to fall completely asleep when the alarms snooze function kicked in and the room was once more loud as a dance club, this time playing a radio station. 

"GOOD MORNING Tokyo-3!! You're listening to 3.08 Angel, the station dedicated to those saviours of mankind down here at NERV. Of course this morning the sun is up and it will be a scorching day at a low of around 29 degrees and a high of 40."

Misato sat up letting the cover of her futon fall down off her back "ok I'm up, I'm up!" She stood up and groggily walked to her bedroom door, she knew that Shinji should already be up by now and that Rei would be over in a half hour. As Misato stepped through the door she began second guessing this plan of her friend Ritsukos. It wasn't working out so far so she couldn't tell if it would work at all, she doubted it, but also hoped it would. 

Still dressed in her blue pyjamas the violet haired woman made her way down the hall and to the bathroom. She stepped in and groaned as she saw Pen-Pen was in there "how long have you been there?" 

"WARK"

"Never mind, how much longer will you be?"

"WARK!!"

"ARGGHHHH stupid Penguin, I need a bath!" 

Pen-Pen promptly stuck his tongue out at the Major of NERV, "WARK."

Misato exited the bathroom and slammed the door loudly "BAKA Pen-Pen." Unable to bathe she opted to go for her second morning routine, a beer. Misato walked the last stretch of the hall and entered the living room, she took a quick glance to the side to see Shinji and someone else running coordination drills. 

"Morning Shinji, Rei" she yawned without facing them completely and continued to the kitchen. She stopped for a minute 'hold on! I didn't hear or see Rei come in.' she just shrugged it off and pulled a beer from the fridge 'hold on! Rei doesn't have red hair!!' This caught Misatos attention and she turned around ready to start yelling at Asuka for interfering. 

Misatos eyes went wide as she stared at the sight before her, Shinji and Asuka both stood on the matt in the final stance of the moves. Above their heads a sign with LED lights read SCORE = 100%! She blinked. Blinked again. After a minute of just blinking Misato turned around to face the fridge. She popped the tab on her beer and took a giant swig, sloshed it around her mouth and swallowed. When she had repeated the process until the can was empty she turned around again, and there it was. Still highlighted above the two teens, who were now staring at each other, read SCORE = 100%.

"Ah…huh…ah" Misato tried to form a coherent word but all that would come were mumbles. The first plausible thing that came to her mind was FLUKE. She knew that had to be what she was seeing either a fluke or the machine was malfunctioning. Of course it had to be one of those, Rei and Shinji had been trying for almost four days to get that score and now on what was possibly the first try Asuka managed to do what Rei hadn't been able to.

Shinji Ikari stared directly at the redheaded German across from him, she was looking right back at him. At almost the same time they both looked up at the sign above their heads. Both teens turned back to each other with a mixed look of confusion and excitement. Shinji just let his eyes roam from the score to his friend and back again still not thinking of anything to say. "Ah…Asuka, what just happened?"

Asuka stared up at the score then back to the brown haired pilot next to her, "I…I don't know. I…I think we just…in a word…aced it!" She looked once more at the board and studied it as if she was checking every LED over twice. "I…I mean…we just…"

"Synched" Shinji added without consciously thinking it, "what does that mean? I mean Rei and I…it took us…days to get up to 80% and then we couldn't get any higher! And then you and I…just…just ace it on the first try!"

"I think the word is fluked it Shinji" Misato said making her presence known to the two bewildered teens. "There is no way that just happened, the machine must be busted" the violet haired woman walked over to the two and stared at them, then moved to the back of the machine. "How many times have you done this?" she asked while checking that the wires weren't crossed or something. 

"Uh…well…twice to show Asuka the moves, with the machine off. And…then…" Shinji was interrupted by Asuka.

"One try with it on"

Misato soon emerged from behind the machine and sighed, "It's working properly." She moved back to face the two pilots staring at each of them individually. "I'm not going to punish you" she glared at Asuka "yet." She then shifted her features into neutral "first I want to see if it was a fluke, so…do it again."

The NERV Major backed up and allowed the pilots the room needed to perform the moves. The music started and so did the movements from the teens, bot completely caught up in the rhythm they hardly noticed they were moving simultaneously every second was on time accounted for, keeping perfect time. Misatos jaw promptly dropped to the ground as every two or so seconds the score board jumped in percentage, until it came to rest on 99.9% as the music came to a halt so did the Second and Third children. The exact moment they stopped the score clicked over to 100%. 

"Shinji" Asuka gave him a light punch on the arm to get the boys attention, "look." She pointed to the board and the score once again read a perfect 100% "we did it again! Hi five Shin-man" the redhead raised her right hand and Shinji gave it a light slap in mid air. "You know Shinji; I always thought you and I made a good team. Huh Mr Soryu?"

Shinji looked at the girl confused for a second, then began to chuckle "oh god, you actually remembered THAT?!"

Asuka joined him in laughing "hey all girls remember the first time a guy asks them to marry them. You didn't think I'd forget did you?" She offered him a sly smile then burst out laughing.

"Asuka you're not going to hold me to that are you? I mean we were only seven and I only said it to stop them from taking you away!" Shinji defended himself jokingly remembering the day that Asuka left seven years ago. 

It was early morning and they were at the air port where two men in black suits were waiting for Asuka. Shinji didn't want her to go, Asuka didn't want to go. It was a hard thing to leave the only real family you knew behind and go off with two strangers who looked as big as The Hulk. Shinji in desperation o keep his best friend in his life asked her if they were to get married would she come back, and of course Asuka said yes but she wanted to keep her name. 

"I don't know Shinji, after all a promise is a promise" Asuka smiled again. She then turned her attention to her commanding officer and guardian, Misato. "So still think it's a fluke?" she grinned evilly at the violet haired woman as if to say 'if you want we'll do it again.'

"N…No, just a little…shocked that's all" Misato stared blankly at the score board then back down to Shinji who had a smile plastered over his face. "Shinji?" she waited till the boy turned around, "I'll leave it up to you. Do you want to stay paired with Rei or with Asuka?"

Shinji looked to the side at Asuka then back at Misato, "ah…" He had never had to decide something like this before. On one hand he didn't want to hurt Reis feelings because she worked so hard to succeed. On the other he didn't want to hurt Asukas feelings or see her get hurt because of him. He took one last look at Asuka who stared at him with what looked to be pleading eyes, "Asuka."

"YES" the redheaded pilot ran over and pulled Shinji into a fierce bear hug that could only be rivalled by Misato herself. "I swear Shinji you won't be disappointed, I'll make you proud" Asuka settled down for a moment 'did I just say that? Shit, do I really want to make him proud of me? Why?'

Misato turned around and headed off to the phone "now I have to get your grounded status revoked and tell Rei that she won't be piloting" she added something under her breath that the teenagers didn't hear.

Shinji gasped a little for two reasons, the closeness of himself and Asuka was providing a good vantage point to view cleavage. And two he was running out of air, "A…ASUKA….AIR!!!"

The redhead realising she was holding her friend too tightly released her grip and blushed a little, "sorry." 'SHIT did I just apologise? Oh well it's only Shinji I suppose it's ok if it's him.' She smiled again and turned towards the hall "I'm going to get changed then we can practice some more. And remember you owe me one!"

Shinji watched as Asuka retreated to her room then gulped loudly, "why does that sound like a bad thing?"

*********

Shinji sighed in relief as the day before had passed rather uneventfully, apart from waking up to find out that Asuka was able to synch with him in one shot. No real big deal, he chuckled thinking that. 

Misato was a bit more than royally pissed off at the amount of paper work she had to go through to get Asuka back into operational status. Shinji, Shinji was just relieved that Asuka would be his partner and that they had a perfect synch score. He still had a hard time believing they had been able to get it perfect in one shot. 

After Misato had made her few calls in the morning, and after Asuka had gotten changed, the two teens proceeded to practice. Each time they completed the routine with a perfect score, except the one they did a minute before lunch when Shinji and Asuka both caught the smell of what Misato had cooked. It was one of those god awful smells that made their stomachs turn and brains shut down. No wonder they got only 3.09%. 

He was also relieved that Asuka was too tired to call in the 'I owe u' which she said he would have to fulfil another day. He still had a bad feeling about that little dept and it wasn't going to go away anytime soon. Although he couldn't come up with anything that would be that bad that she would make him do, at least Shinji hoped so.

"Well are you ready Mr Soryu?" Asukas smirking image appeared in Shinjis bottom left screen. The redhead was looking just about ready to burst out laughing. 

He sighed and pressed a button enabling him to speak, "are you still going on about that?" Asuka just nodded and began to giggle, Shinji sighed again as he just knew that the bridge crew would be laughing at him. "And you were the one who said I take things too seriously!"

"Hey like I said, a promise is a promise!" Asuka had taken all she could and promptly released an entire nights worth of laughter, at once. A moment later when she had calmed down the redhead just smiled sweetly and turned the channel off. 

Shinji sighed and opened a new channel to the bridge, "are we ready to do this thing?"

An image of Misato appeared and she was smiling something wicked, "why of course whenever you are ready…MR SORYU." Misato burst out laughing and Shinji could swear he heard some of the other bridge crew, including Aoba, Shigeru and Maya, join in. 

"MISATO!!!" Shinji yelled while he turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. He shut down the comm and awaited the final countdown still blushing from his supposed friends jokes. "So immature" he sighed. 

Another window appeared and Shinji let out a loud sigh, then the image of the First Child emerged. "What is the matter Mr Soryu?" Rei said in her stoic voice. 

"Not you to Ayanami!"

"What is the matter with your new title?"

"It's not my title, I'm still Ikari. They're just playing a prank"

"A prank?"

"Yeah…you know a joke"

"I'm afraid I do not understand how this would be funny"

"Me neither Ayanami"

"I merely wanted to wish you and Pilot Soryu luck. I apologise that we were unable to become one."

"Become one?"

"Miss Soryu refers to it as sex"

"WHAT??!!!"

"I assume you and Soryu have become one?"

"HUH?! What the hell?! NO we have not become one!!!" Shinji turned bright red and started to stammer.

"Then why does she take my place in this operation?"

"Because we can synch!!"

"I see"

Reis image disappeared and Shinji was left alone in his entry plug unable to comprehend the enormity of Asukas prank or Reis questioning. Did Asuka somehow talk Rei into that as part of her joke? Shinji automatically shook his head; ever since she had arrived Asuka had hated Rei. 

"This is going to be a long day…"

*********

AN: Yay I'm back ya! Oh well left u hanging again, well I just wanted to put the actual fight in the next chapter so it ties in with what will happen later. Well I think I did ok but well that's up to u guys. 

Anyway next there will be the fight probably not too long as we all know what happens pretty much. Then there will be an emotional thingy afterwards then the next day at school which I'm aiming for a little comedy with the three stooges and introducing a few girls into the equation. For some reason I really enjoy doing this particular series so I might take it further than I had originally planned. Oh well catch the next chap 'A fight, a kiss and the day after' 

Seya on da other side………………..   


	8. A battle, A kiss and the Day After

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' Production 

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 8: A Battle, A kiss and the day after  

"Status report" the violet haired Major Katsuragi asked, in what was more like a command then a question. She had finished taunting Shinji about the small joke that she had picked up on from Asuka and was now ready to start the operation. It wasn't going to be easy even though Shinji and Asuka were able to synch perfectly. That was then this is the now and now is very different. Here today the two teens had so much riding on their shoulders, one slip up and they could kiss themselves goodbye. This is what had Misato worried. 

Though she hadn't known him for that long, the violet haired woman had grown to love Shinji Ikari like a mother would her son. If it weren't for the name of the commander she'd probably be his mum. Misato had wanted children at one stage in her life, not for very long though. It seems that taking care of a friend's baby for a few days one time was enough for the NERV major to handle. But having Shinji around was different, he was older that's for sure. Not only that he was smart, well behaved and a great cook. Now that she thought about it Misato wouldn't know what to do without Shinji around, though she wouldn't admit it directly. 

As for Asuka, Asuka was an enigma to Misato. At times she was a little bitch, stuck up, selfish and extremely annoying. Then other times she could be nice, kind, caring and overall sweet, mostly towards Shinji Misato noticed. Another thing she had noticed about the redhead was her strange tendencies to just sit and stare at the boy while he wasn't looking. She wouldn't even know she was staring at Shinji; she just seemed to be distant at times like that, as if the teen was contemplating the meaning of life or something. 

"Everything is looking good, Shinji holding his synch steady at 56% and Asuka at 89%" Maya reported, snapping Misato out of her revere. "Shinjis fluid levels seem to be down a bit has he had anything to drink this morning?"

"I'm not sure we did leave in kind of a hurry" Misato answered while trying to drive away thoughts of bad things that COULD happen. "How's Asuka?"

"No problems detected with the Second Child" the blonde Ritsuko replied while scanning her computer terminal, "I don't quite like the feedback we're getting from Unit-01. Are you sure Shinjis ok apart from lack of fluids?"

The violet haired Major thought for a second before answering "not that I know of." As she said that something clicked in her mind "he has been waking up in the middle of the night more often than usual."

It was now Ritsukos turn to wonder for a minute, she had not done a proper physical or psychological check up on the Children since Asuka had come. "Is everything alright at home Major?"

"Actually Ritsuko it's, well, better I suppose." Misato paused trying to think wether or not it was better at home or not, "Shinji seems happy. Since Asuka came he's been a lot more…cheery, he's not moping around as much as he used to. Why, do you think this could be caused by something at the apartment?"

"Not something…" Ritsuko answered softly, "more like someone."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Having Asuka around could be affecting Shinji psychologically"

"How?"

"I'm not sure, but if the nightmares continue bring him to see me ok?"

"Sure anything for Shinji…"

*****

Shinji Ikari sighed with relief; so far the 'dance' as NERV were calling it was going well. Asuka and he had made it to the stage where his dream had gone wrong and nothing bad was happening. Maybe around 40 seconds ago Misato had given the order to launch and everything went from there.

He had to admit he had his doubts about the operation from the very beginning, even with Asuka on as his partner he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. He just had one of those gut wrenching feelings that kept people up all night worrying about the little things that could go wrong. He hated being so serious and worrying all the time, but it was his personality. No matter how long he tries he just couldn't change, he could alter his personality a little like he had already done recently.

Pushing those thoughts away Shinji gripped the butterfly controls of his Eva and concentrated on the mission. At this point both Evas were waiting behind a wall of thick metal for the enemy to blast it away. The twin Angels lifted themselves off the ground using their AT fields to jump through the air. That was Asuka and Shinjis que to run, or…jump anyway. 

Shinji dived off to the left while Asuka in her red Unit-02 jumped off to the right, both Evas were cleared and out of the way just in time for the Angels to rip through the metallic wall they were hiding behind. Shinji miscalculated his jump and ended up landing on the ground with his Evas head in a building. 

Misato saw this little incident and the first thought that came to mind was 'I bet that was expensive.' She then jumped straight into major mode and ordered all missile turret, tanks and VTOLs to fire their payloads at both targets. This manoeuvre allowed Shinji to stand up again and also did some considerable damage to the Angels.

Now standing up right Shinji brought his Eva over to where Asuka was waiting with her Unit-02. "Ready Asuka?" he asked into the comm as he waited for the que to jump. 

"As ever" Asuka answered from her entry plug with as much enthusiasm as possible at the time. To herself she just smiled and hoped that this would be the end of this Angel, her first real kill. She regretted having to share the kill with Shinji but it was better than sharing it with Rei or not having any of it at all.

The smoke cleared from the explosion that bombarded the Angels and that was the Evas Que. Both unit-01 and 02 launched forward and delivered surprising uppercuts to each of the Angels sending them flying into the air. Shinji and Asuka however didn't let them get that far away. They both simultaneously brought their Eva sized feet up and kicked each of their targets in the torso. 

The two Angels were propelled into each other and collided with enough force to meld them back into one being. Allowing only a second for pride both pilots leaped their Evas high into the sky. Side by side the two Evas began to descend back to earth, at the same time Asuka stretched out her left foot and Shinji did the same with his right. 

A moment later and both their feet met with an Angel core each, they both provided as much force to their feet as possible. The Angel was taken, yet again, completely by surprise and it lost its footing sending it and the Evas ploughing up the side of the mountain. As the last second of power drained from both Evas the duel cores of the 7th Angel shattered into a dozen pieces. 

The command crew of NERV watched in awe as the entire mountain known as Fugai exploded in a light show of reds and yellows. If it weren't for the destructive nature of the blast one would have thought it to be a beautiful sight. To all who witnessed it this was not a beautiful sight it was a nightmare. 

The explosion sent clouds of dust and smoke billowing into the air and city below. Rocks the size of Volkswagens flew through the air at high speeds until finally meeting face to face with a skyscraper or billboard. One could only guess what fate the Evas and their pilots had suffered.

The smoke took four minutes to clear enough to gain a visual on the crater left behind, that was the worst four minutes of Major Katsuragis life. Her two children were in there and they were possibly injured or at worst dead. She wanted to know what had happened to them, "give me a visual!" Misato ordered with concern for her adopted children. 

"Coming online now" Maya called from the other side of the command room. The cinema sized screen in front of them flickered twice then an image of Unit-01 lying on top of Unit-02 inside a crater appeared. "Both Evas are ok" Maya reported, "Pilots life signs are normal."

*****

The LCL drained from the plug as soon as the hatch opened. The yellow liquid spilled to the ground like a waterfall cascading down a cliff. Shinji had no idea of when he regained consciousness all he could remember was the explosion then opening the entry-plug. He pulled himself up out of the plug and onto the neck of Eva Unit-01 being careful not to fall off; it would be a long drop he noted. 

Shinji drew his hand up and whipped the sweat off his forehead then scratched the back of his neck. His eyes scanned the surrounding area or what was left of it anyway. Trees were uprooted and burnt to a crisp, jagged rocks were sticking out of the ground where they had most likely been thrown. From his position he could see smoke rising from a few of the buildings in the city, which had obviously taken damage from the fire fight or even the resulting explosion. 

What worried Shinji the most was he could not see Unit-02 in the near area; he was beginning to get scared when a sound caught his attention. It sounded like something between a phone and an alarm. He turned around and looked for the source; he soon found it in the form of a flashing picture next to the plug. Curiously the brown haired pilot approached and touched the flashing symbol. Shinji jumped back in surprise when a small section of the armour opened up and a phone popped out. Not know exactly what to do he just picked up the receiver and said "uh…hello."

"You IDIOT, what are you doing on top of MY unit-02!?" 

"Ahhh….Asuka?"

"Of course it's me Dumkopf, who else did you think it would be, the tooth fairy!?"

"Um…yeah right…uh…where are you?"

"Look DOWN dummy!"

Shinji taking Asukas advice leaned cautiously over the edge of his Eva and looked down toward the ground. Before the ground however, he saw something big and red with a white plug hanging out and a small red figure standing next to it. "Oh…there you are…hi" Shinji waved nervously to Asuka then pulled back away from the edge. 

"Idiot" Asuka scolded in mock anger, "I'll ask again why you are on top of my Eva?"

"Sorry…I…well that is I…uh…never mind"

"NEVER mind, never MIND!!! What do you mean by that you….oh when we get home I'm gonna kill you Shinji Soryu!!"

"Oh crap, can you at least quit it with the Soryu thing it's getting old"

"Oh I don't think so Shinji" Misatos voice jumped into the conversation, "do you, guys?"

Shinji mumbled something under his breathe as there was a loud giggling sound coming from two ends of the three-way conversation. "That's it Asuka this has gone too far, do you want me to tell them about your bowel control problems?"

"You wouldn't dare!!"

"Oh yeah?"

"You…couldn't!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Okay I'll stop joking around"

"Good"

"What bowel control problems?" Misato asked happily, she just loved gossip and even more she loved teasing ammo.

"Oh nothing" Shinji smiled to himself, "now can you get us out of here please I need a shower."

"I'll second that" Asuka sighed.

"OHHHH come on Shinji, please just a little hint?" Misato begged in her kiddie tone.

"Good one Shinji look what you started"

"ME, you started it"

"Did not"

"Did too"

"NOT"

"TOO"

"NOT"

In the command centre both Commander Ikari and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki wore large sweat drops on their foreheads. "Those kids are embarrassing us again" Fuyutsuki rubbed his face with both hands. Commander Ikari just sat there in the Gendo Position™ and sighed loudly at the behaviour of the pilots. 

*****

"YES" Shinji practically yelled as he stepped through the door to the Katsuragi apartment. "It's good to be home" he added while stretching his arms until both joints cracked, "hey Misato can we order in?"

"Oh, I don't see why we can't" Misato followed Shinji through into the apartment followed by Asuka who was bringing up the rear. "What do you two want?" the violet haired woman walked over to the phone and picked it up, "nothing too expensive though. Remember I'm broke until Thursday."

Shinji thought for a moment, Misato wasn't that rich so he could cross out the French restaurant down the road. Asuka didn't like traditional Japanese food that much so he automatically said no to that. Still stuck for clues Shinji turned to the foremost expert on food, "what will we get Asuka? You choose."

"I'm not that hungry" Asuka said tiredly as she walked over to the couch and slumped down, "how bout pizza?" The redhead pulled both her legs up and rested them on the other end of the couch. She wasn't feeling the best and didn't really care too much about dinner at the moment. Her mind was… too preoccupied to be thinking about food. 

"Uh…ok, pizza it is" Misato said dialling the nearest pizza place, "Hey what's with you Shinji? You seem more upbeat than usual." Both the violet haired woman and the young redhead had noticed and commented quietly on Shinjis unusual behaviour. It wasn't like him to be this happy, especially after piloting. 

The brown haired pilot just shrugged his shoulders and smiled broadly, "just happy that dreams really don't come true." With that he cast a sidelong glance at Asuka and caught a glimpse of a smile on her face. All too soon though the smile dropped away and was replaced by that 'spaced-out' look she sometimes had. 

"I'm going to my room" Asuka said as she stood up and walked towards the hallway, "call me when the food's here." Misato just nodded in reply and the German girl disappeared down the hall and into her room. 

"So Shinji…" Misato turned to the young boy who had now sat down on the couch, "what's this about Asuka and bowel control problems?"

"Misato!"

****

Asuka lay on her bed thinking quietly to herself. She had been pleased with the outcome of the battle, no one was hurt and the Angels were defeated. But she couldn't understand why she felt so…empty, hollow. She closed her eyes and sighed loudly enjoying the comfort of being alone in her room. 

"But I hate being alone" the redhead barley whispered and it was the truth. Most of her life she had spent alone, even when her mother was still alive she was still alone due to her mothers physiological instability. Either that or she was always at work and made no efforts to spend time with her daughter. Asuka often wondered if she was meant to exist, if she was an accident, a mistake that her mother chose to ignore. When Kyoko took her life she confirmed in Asukas mind that she was unwanted and not meant to be.

As that stage in her life ended she was dropped into another one. She was sent to live with a boy named Shinji Ikari and his uncle mister Ikari. There she made improvements, though still thinking she was a mistake and unwanted. That was until she got close to Shinji, being so young her defences that she has now weren't completely developed. This allowed the small brown haired boy to wriggle his way in and lodge himself deeply in her heart. 

He had become the friend that she never thought she would have, the brother she never wanted but enjoyed having. Her feelings of emptiness disappeared for those three short and wonderful years, she didn't fear being alone because her friend would be there for her and she would be for him. 

"Asuka" the familiar voice shocked the young redhead out of her musings and she sat strait up. "Sorry" Shinji said apologetically "didn't think you were sleeping." The boy turned and started to leave.

Asuka almost jumped to her feet "it's alright, don't go." She smiled slightly as Shinji stopped and walked back into the room stopping in the centre and kneeling down on both knees. "So…" strapped for things to talk about she decided to find out why he was in here "what you want?"

"Well, this girl I know told me to come get her when the pizza arrived" Shinji smiled "so I thought I better get her seeing as though the pizza is here." He stood up and approached her slowly; he then put his hand on Asukas shoulder. "You ok? You seem out of it."

The redhead sighed and averted her eyes, "yeah, just…thinking."

"Bout what?"

"Nothing…"

"Oh come on, I know you better then that"

"Yeah I suppose you do"

Asuka slowly met his gaze and saw a touch of concern in his deep blue eyes, "Shinji, what do you think of me?"

Shinji jerked back a little surprised at the redhead's sudden question, "uh…what do you mean?" He thought for a second and answered his own question "if you mean that I think you're a good person, when someone gets to know you. Um…let's see you're smart, talented with a violin and a great pilot."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked softly looking away once more, "I mean do you, you know, find me…attractive?"

Shinji was once again shocked, "um…well yeah you're easily the most beautiful girl in the city, hell probably even Japan. What brought all this on? You got self appearance issues or something?"

"No I…just that I" Asuka blushed a little then smiled as she turned to face Shinji a bit better, "I want to call in the 'I owe you.'" She thought that this was the perfect way for her to sort out her feelings for the boy and it would be kinda fun. "Any objections?"

"Oh boy" Shinji sighed but he still kept his smile, "I don't know. You could have something nasty lined up for me."

"Trust me, you'll like it"

"Ok then what is it? Make it quick because I'm hungry"

"Ok then, I want you to…kiss me"

"What?"

"Kiss me"

Shinji scratched the back of his head for a second just staring at his long time friend; this was a little out of the ordinary. "Did you just say you wanted me to…kiss you?" he echoed her previous request, she nodded in reply. "Um…o…ok I suppose" Shinji stepped a little closer and leaned in towards Asukas face. The young redhead closed her eyes and pursed her lips in anticipation, only to feel a soft kiss on her cheek. 

"That wasn't a kiss!" she almost sighed as he pulled back quickly, Shinji of course being a man didn't get the picture. Asuka knew he could be dense but not this dense, she also knew she would have to take things into her own hands to get them done. 

Before Shinji could question the girl Asuka pulled her hands up and wrapped them round his neck, pulling him in so that his lips met with hers. The boy was still for a long moment as he was completely stunned. Asuka had successfully begun kissing Shinji but there was a problem, he wasn't kissing back. This little fact was unacceptable to the redhead so she tried harder. 

Using her tongue to push his lips open Asuka began to deepen the kiss. Shinji was still in a state of shock until he felt Asukas tongue enter his mouth and brush lightly against his. At this point he abandoned reasonable thought and let his male instincts take over. Remembering all those sappy movies he had seen over the years Shinji began to kiss her back. She seemed happy for this and deepened the kiss even more, if such a thing was possible. 

Asuka was surprised that he actually joined in, she at first had expected him to remain still and stoic in the whole event, she was glad she was proven wrong. The sensation the redhead was feeling was overwhelming her, just to have him close was filling that hollow feeling she had earlier. If it wasn't for the burdens of the human anatomy she would have gladly stayed where she was but it seems her or Shinjis lungs didn't quite agree. 

The young German girl pulled back hesitantly as did the young Ikari both just stared at each other for a minute before they each averted their eyes. Shinji was STILL shocked, dumbfounded, confused and any other analogy you could think of. Asuka was somewhat relieved of finally getting that off her chest and was also a little excited, it being her first kiss and all. 

The brown haired pilot was the first to break the long silence, "that was…"

"Wrong?" Asuka asked in a whisper

"Unexpected"

"Oh"

"What…why…"

"SHINJI, ASUKA" A loud voice yelled out form in the kitchen, "Where are you two? It's getting cold and I don't think I can hold Pen-Pen back any longer."

"We better go eat" Shinji said as he backed away slowly still not looking directly at his friend. "I…well…urgh" he turned around and walked out swiftly leaving Asuka alone in her room to think.

"What have I done?"

****

AN: MWAHAHAHAHAHA what have you done indeed!! Hey guys and gals I'm back again sorry it took so long but certain things are happening and I just couldn't think clearly to write. It seems my School don't think I'm smart enough to go up into year eleven so I have to repeat 3 year ten subjects, which are Math, History and RE (Religious Education) YUK. I HATE SCHOOL. Oh well at least I get to do my I.T Tafe course still. 

Anyway I did have more planned for this chap but u know me and the 3000 word mark. I don't know I just don't usually go over that for one chapter heh I'm just weird, but hey we all knew that right? Anyway I'll do the 'Next Day' part in the next chapter. In the next chapter Asuka will seek advice from Misato and her friend to be Hikari. Meanwhile Shinji ponders the events of the previous night, but all is doomed to become chaos when Shinji gets a not so secret admirer.

Hope you had a merry Christmas and to all a happy new year from all of us on the other side, mainly me!!!

Seya on da other side…………………….                                                                                                                           


	9. Aftermath, the day after

Bucky presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 9: The day After

"Shinji, are you up yet?!" Misato Katsuragi wandered the rooms of her small apartment in search of the young brown haired pilot. It was now 8:45 and she couldn't find the young Ikari anywhere. The first place she looked was the kitchen, seeing as though he always makes breakfast for himself, her, Pen-Pen and Asuka. He wasn't there, so she tried his room, not there either. Next she tried the bathroom, then the laundry, nothing.

The Violet haired woman was now standing in the lounge room wondering where the hell the boy had gotten to. She had tried all of his spots and he wasn't at any of them, the only other logical conclusion was that he had already left for school. But that was almost impossible seeing as though he never left without Asuka or saying goodbye. This brought another possibility into her mind.

She quickly walked down the hall and turned off at Asukas room; she knocked softly on the half open door then pushed it open fully. Misato peered in but only saw Asuka sitting on the end of her bed still in her night clothes just staring off into space. "Um, Asuka?" Misato waited for the redhead to turn around but she didn't budge "uh…have you seen Shinji this morning?"

Asuka made no effort to answer her guardians question, she had barley even heard it she only heard one word, Shinji. That name made her remember the event last night and then another less than a half hour ago. She had heard some rummaging and bumping noises coming from his room next to hers. 

Then the bathroom door closed and the shower turned on. A few minutes later the door opened again and the redhead got out of bed. Asuka still dressed in her sleeping clothes walked out into the hall and almost collided with the brown haired boy. They both exchanged quiet apologies Shinji avoided looking at Asuka while she stared openly at him. 

He didn't say anything, and neither did she, not for a long time. They both stood there in an awkward silence that seemed to stretch on for ever. Asuka noted he was already dressed for school in his typical black pants and white shirt. Shinji finally broke the silence "I'm…um…going to school, there's a lunch for you in the fridge." With that he turned around and stepped into his room, a moment later he walked out with his bag in hand and down the hall. Asuka didn't even hear the front door close as she walked back to her room, trying desperately to hold back a fountain of tears. 

"Asuka?" Misatos voice was soft, but not soft enough to go unnoticed. She had entered the room and moved quietly to next to the bed she kneeled down so that she was in line with the younger girl. "What's the matter?" the violet haired woman was shocked a little. She had lived with the young German for a few years in Germany and in all that time she had never seen this, she was crying. Slowly but surly streams of tears streaked their way down the sides of her face. 

"Asuka what's wrong?" Misato asked more concerned now than before, "Where's Shinji?" the redhead remained still for a few moments before whipping at her tears with her right arm then lapsing back into motionless. "Asuka…please, if you don't tell me what's wrong I can't help you."

"C-can you…turn back time?" the young redhead finally spoke, her voice held a twinge of sarcasm. "Because…if you can't…then you can't help me" she lowered her head and sighed loudly, "I'm not going to school today."

Misato was literally crushed to see the proud girl she had known reduced to tears, "what, what did Shinji do to you?" This was the only logical explanation she could come up with for the German girl to be crying. This girl didn't even cry at her mother funeral or her grandmothers, so it had to be something serious. The only one that could affect her like this would be someone she trusted more than anyone. 

Asuka fought back more tears and spoke again, barley above a whisper "it was me, I did this, it's my fault." Unable to hold back any longer she let the tears fall freely. 

"What…happened?" the NERV major may not have been that experienced at being a mother or mother figure, but she knew all to well what this was. This was your grade A+ heartbreak the kind it takes months to get over, if you get over it at all. "Asuka I only want to help you, you can trust me."

"I don't need your sympathy!"

"I'm not offering Sympathy, I'm offering to listen"

"…ok, but I don't NEED you"

"That's right you don't, now tell me"

"I…last night I…I asked Shinji to kiss me"

"You did what?!"

"I asked him to kiss me!"

"Did he?"

"Not…exactly, so…I kissed him"

"ok I can see where this is going"

Asuka leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, "I…don't know why I did it, but it felt so right. I don't think he thought so though, I mean I know he enjoyed it but…"

"You don't think he return the feelings" Misato finished; she received a quick nod from the girl in response. "So…I can tell that's not it, there's more isn't there?" once again another quick nod of the head, "then tell me."

"Like I said, it felt so…right…I…I think I love him. This morning when I got up, he was already about to leave. He was going to go without me he wouldn't even talk to me apart from telling me about my lunch, he didn't even look at me!" Asuka began to sob into her hands as she tried to speak, her voice started to crack badly, "he hates me, he must hate me now!"

"No he doesn't" Misato moved closer and put her arm around the girls shoulder, "Shinji is incapable of hate. It's against his nature to hate someone, he doesn't even hate his father and that man has done worse things to Shinji than you. So he wouldn't hate you for kissing him, he's just confused. He'll be back to normal in no time and you two will both laugh about this some day, you'll see."

"I don't want it to be normal" Asuka almost yelled, "nothing can be normal anymore. I want…I want to be with him not just as friends. I have enough friends I don't want to be alone anymore; I just want him to love me like I love him."

Misato cringed as the German redhead burst into tears once more; she pulled the young girl into a tight embrace and held her close whispering softly words of comfort. With a free hand she pulled out her cell-phone and hit the speed dial, "hello…yes…I'm not going to be in today…yes I know but something important has come up…thank you."

The violet haired woman looked down at the tangle of red hair in her arms, she was now sobbing softly, and breathing in short raged breathes. "It's ok, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere" Misato held Asuka even tighter then she hit the second button on the speed dial. The phone rung once, twice but there was no answer. She let the phone ring and ring, until a sound from the next room caught her ears. "Shit" she sighed as she recognised the sound of Shinjis cell-phone ring tone.

****

The halls of Tokyo-3 junior high school were buzzing with life, students were chattering happily away scarcely remembering there was a war going on. To them this was just another simple school day, they rejoiced in the knowledge that in one place their lives could be normal. Here they were just children learning how to live life and survive in the real world. This was Shinjis sanctum. 

The brown haired pilot sat in the corner of his classroom, 2A. He had been there for almost half an hour and he hadn't moved at all for the entire time. He sat with his arms crossed on the desk and his head resting gently on his arms. Most people who had already arrived at school, which weren't many, just thought he was sleeping and decided to not disturb him. But the calm silence of his corner of the room was thrown away when a boy of the same age approached him. 

"Hey Shinji" Kensuke Aida called as he walked towards his friend. He pulled a chair away from a near by desk and set it in front of Shinjis, then plonked down. What's up Shin-man?"

Shinji just lifted his head a little "hey Kensuke, nothing much." His tone of voice was void, lacking any emotion or depth; it reminded him of his father. He felt disgusted that he would sound like his father, he hated that man. Everything he did was to hurt Shinji or those around him, like Tojis sister. 'You're an idiot Shinji, trying to avoid the real subject by shifting to your father' he told himself this twice to let it sink in.

"So…Toji and I saw some of the fight on the news, what NERV released of it anyway. You really kicked some butt!" the teen adjusted his glasses "look I even got some of it on tape." He then pulled out his perpetually present video camera and hit the play button. The small LCD screen began playing the highlights of the previous battle.

Shinji watched on in silence barley even paying attention. As the fight neared its end Shinji looked a little more interested. Just seconds before the explosion he saw Unit-01 break away from the Angel and throw itself over Unit-02 blocking it from the destruction of the blast. He then remembered the short conversation he had with Asuka on those little phones.

FLASH

"You IDIOT, what are you doing on top of MY unit-02!?" 

"Ahhh….Asuka?"

"Of course it's me Dumkopf, who else did you think it would be, the tooth fairy!?"

"Um…yeah right…uh…where are you?"

"Look DOWN dummy!"

 Shinji taking Asukas advice leaned cautiously over the edge of his Eva and looked down toward the ground. Before the ground however, he saw something big and red with a white plug hanging out and a small red figure standing next to it. "Oh…there you are…hi" Shinji waved nervously to Asuka then pulled back away from the edge. 

"Idiot" Asuka scolded in mock anger, "I'll ask again why you are on top of my Eva?"

"Sorry…I…well that is I…uh…never mind"

"NEVER mind, never MIND!!! What do you mean by that you….oh when we get home I'm gonna kill you Shinji Soryu!!"

END FLASH

"Hey Shinji" he could hear Kensukes voice beckoning him back to reality, "yo, earth to Shinji, come in."

"S-sorry" Shinji said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, "I kinda zoned out for a bit."

"That's ok, so how was it?"

"What?"

"The fight man, the fight"

"Oh, it was…easy I guess"

"EASY, god you are to simplistic. Anyway what's up with this?" Shinji turned his head to look once more at the cameras small LCD screen. On the screen Kensuke had frozen the image of Unit-01 protecting Unit-02 from the explosion. 

"Nothing" the brown haired pilot answered, he looked away blushing slightly although he saw no problem in protecting someone he cared for. That was why his Eva was on top of hers, he shielded her from the blast yet he felt awkward telling her what he did. He usually craved praise, it was his way of proving his existence what he wouldn't have given for his father to tell him he did a good job, and call him by his first name.

"Oh right nothing" Kensuke grinned and winked at his friend. Shinji just groaned and dropped his head back to the desk, his mind mentally exhausted from continuously replaying the events of the previous day. He was looking for something, though he had no idea exactly what, perhaps it was a reason. A reason for his best friends sudden actions, something he could connect to make him understand her motives.

FLASH

Chibi Asukas face lightened up for a second then hardened a little "Shinji you can also tell her to stay away from you because you are mine. Tell that damn little girl that you're my boyfriend and if she comes near you again I'll squash her like a bug."

"A-Asuka?" Shinji just stared at his friend dumbfounded for a whole minute before she lightened up and smiled. 

"Shinji" she said a little more soothingly, "you are my boyfriend ok? And I don't share." Asuka closed in a little and quickly gave Shinji a peck on the cheek, "when we are older I'll give you a grown up kiss. Promise you'll give me my first, and I'll give you yours."

As soon as Asuka backed away Shinji fell on the ground from complete shock, "uh huh…ok…promise" he managed to stutter before attempting to stand. 

The young redheaded German smiled sweetly then grabbed Shinji by the hand and dragged him back towards the sand pit. "Remember Shinji, you promised and I'll hold you to that!"

END FLASH

"That's it" Shinji almost jumped out of his seat, "that's why she did it; she was just fulfilling a promise made years ago. Shit I gotta go home."

Kensuke slowly picked himself up off the floor after being thrown their from Shinjis sudden outburst. "Uh? What, what you talking bout?" he asked while straightening out his glasses.

"Asuka, she well…she kissed me last night" Shinji said almost rushing, he could trust Kensuke not to spread it around, he just couldn't trust Toji not to spread it around. "And I just remembered when we were kids we promised each other that we'd give the other our first kiss."

"Hmmmm….interesting, Shinji Ikari saviour of mankind kissing the Devil"

"Shut up, will you cover for me?"

"Hmmm…I might, for a price"

"Name it"

"I want a sample of LCL"

"What no way"

"Then I can't help you"

"Oh…urgh…ok you win"

"Good now off you go"

"Thanks"

Shinji jumped to his feet and raced out the door almost colliding with the class rep Hikari Horaki, "Sorry." He called out as he ran down the hall and out of the school, a moment later and he was off school grounds and headed home.

****

"Thank you…Misato" Asuka pulled herself to her feet and staggered to the door of her room, "I'm going to have a shower." She smiled weakly then walked shakily out of the room and halfway down the hall. She had just reached the bathroom door knob when she heard the front door open. 

A second later Shinji stepped round the corner and sighed in relief, Asuka stood there still holding the door knob waiting for her brain to continue functions. The brown haired boy stepped forward and came up so he was merely inches away from her. "Asuka, I'm sorry."

"Why…why are you sorry?" the redhead asked her voice almost cracking again. "I kissed you, I screwed up not you, so why are you apologising?"

Shinji sighed and looked away for a second he knew it would be hard he had a feeling there was more to what had happened than just what he guessed. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, I was…confused" he looked back at her and their eyes locked, "I mean, it's not everyday your best friend kisses you like that."

Asuka noted the small amount of humour in his voice, trying to lighten the mood she smiled slightly then sighed. "Shinji I'm sorry…for doing that to you, I have no idea what I was thinking and I…"

"I think I know why" he returned her smile and continued, "You were just fulfilling an old promise. When we were seven we promised that our first kiss would be together and that we would wait for each other. At least that's what I think."

"Can we…I mean…can we just go back to the way it was…before I kissed you? I don't want to loose you completely" Asuka looked away her blue eyes threatening to shed more tears.

She opened her eyes again at the soft feel of Shinjis hand brushing a tear from her cheek. "Asuka, I told you once that you'd always be my best friend no matter what happened. Hell you could shoot me in the leg and I'd still be your friend, a sore friend but still your friend."

Both teens shared a quick chuckle and then Asuka let go of the door and wrapped her arms around Shinjis shoulders. Bringing them into a tight embrace, she rested her head on his shoulder and he did the same on hers. "I'm sorry, Shinji but I have to say this, please don't say anything just listen. I…I…love you to me you're more than a friend. When I kissed you I felt the best I had since my mother died, I felt complete, because for just those few precious minutes I knew someone loved me."

"I'm…sorry Asuka, I…you can't love me" Shinji said his voice now on the verge of cracking, his eyes threatening to pour year's worth of unshed tears. "No one…loves me. Not even my own father."

"I do" the redhead whispered, she moved her hand up to his head and stroked it through his hair. "But, I respect you if you don't love me. We can at least still be friends?"

The brown haired boy was scarcely aware of the tears that now streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto the redheads shoulder. He sniffled a few times, it wasn't everyday that someone you've known for ages ups and tells you she loves you. It wasn't every day you found yourself in this position, "Asuka, do me…one favour."

"Sure, anything"

"Never change and be patient with me"

"Of course…I'll wait until the end of the world for you"

****

AN: (Sniff, Sniff) AWWWWWW, dude that was sweet. How the hell did I come up with that? Oh well who cares. I didn't feel like making you wait another two weeks for the next chapter so here it is Chapter Nine. This took me until 2:04am to do this so you better enjoy it. So there you have it KISS crisis over…for now ^_^. Now I know I promised some competition but I actually thought it over and I have bigger plans for my ACC later. 

As for the Misato/Asuka interaction I figured that seeing as though Misato knew Asuka from when she signed up with NERV in Germany, the young pilot wouldn't have any problems opening up a little bit to the Major. I hope I was able to do the whole upset thing on Asukas count, I hope it was believable. 

As for Shinji and Asuka, well big plans. In the next chap the battle with the 8th Angel, nothing that different in this one, apart from the fact that Shinji is the one to go in ^_^ HEHE I'm too good. You think that's weird just wait till I get to the 12th then things really start to get interesting ^_^*

On another note I have sent the first chap of this to EFO on the advice of several friends of mine. So wish me luck in getting past the gruelling trials that EFO put all us Authors through for a chance at greatness. I hope that one day you'll be able to read this from EFO. 

Well I suppose I'll be going now, remember this, the mysterious 'Other Side' is open to all who embrace life. Live, love and be loved and there will always be a place for you in its vast expanse.

Seya on da other side……………….I hope ^_^                                                                                      


	10. Too Hot to Handle!

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 10: Too hot to handle!

Shinji Ikari, Third Child and pilot to Evangelion Unit-01 had destroyed Angels, helped stop a nuclear meltdown, [and] survived in an underwater engagement using B-type equipment. With all of these kills, skills, and attributes to his name one would think that beating his friends in a water fight would be easy!

The days in Tokyo-3 had been steadily increasing in temperature over the last week, with the heat levels rising well above 47 degrees Celsius. The children had of course been forced to go to school for the sake of their future lives. This meant that they were trapped in a hot, sticky, smelly classroom for the last four hours with no air-conditioning. 

Therefore when lunch came around the students were very hot and bothered and all they wanted to do was cool down. Most average students would sit in the cafeteria, where the lunch staff kept the ice-creams and cold drinks, hoping to get a seat under a fan. But Toji, Kensuke, Asuka and two very reluctant students, Shinji and Hikari, were not that average. Shinji was quickly learning that having a military nut/fanatic like Kensuke Aida and a pushy redhead as friends was actually sometimes beneficial.

When Kensuke had sent a letter to his friends over the network telling them about the game Shinji had said no straight away. He didn't feel like running around shooting people with water, not to mention they'd probably get in trouble. But when Asuka found out that he had denied she pulled him outside and convinced him to participate. 

It was the same for the class rep, although it was a mixture of Asuka and Toji who talked her into it. Asuka used the excuse that Hikari could get closer to Toji if she joined in, knowing that the freckled girl had the biggest crush on the jock came in handy. The redhead also added that she didn't want to be the only girl playing, trying to use sympathy. Just like Shinji Hikari finally caved in and gave up, agreeing to join them as long as they didn't wet anyone who wasn't in on the game.           

Kensuke of course had smuggled his extensive collection of water pistols, super-soakers and water bombs into the school. Once distributed among the participants and the rules had been laid out the teens split off in different directions, and thus began the Great Water-Fight of Tokyo-3. 

Shinji had headed toward the cafeteria, near the crowds where his friends would not be able to shoot without hitting an innocent bystander. By order of Miss Horaki, if one of the participants were to hit someone not involved in the game they would loose. The aim was to be the last one dry. The reward for achieving the feet was an all expenses payed dinner. 

The young Ikari held his Super-Soaker 500 close to his chest, to hide it form the view of a passing teacher. He had made it halfway down the hall towards the cafeteria and had not been hit, yet. He didn't plan on winning he just wanted to see how long he could hold out. He had seen only seen one other person head in this direction and that was Asuka, he hoped that she wouldn't notice him for two reasons. One was he didn't want to get shot cause he knew how good she was in the sniper simulator at NERV, and the second was that things had gotten a little…weird between them.

He had mixed feelings about the young German girl now, he first saw her as his most best and trusted friend. Then he saw her as the sister he never had, in a way, then there was her as a girl, just a girl that he liked. He couldn't tell exactly what she meant to him now; he couldn't sort out how he felt about her. He was scared like she was the morning he apologised to her. He was afraid, terrified that if something was to happen and they fought, it would screw up what they already had. And Shinji didn't want that, he couldn't live with that.

The loud clapping sound of footsteps snapped the brown haired boy back into reality and he quickly turned around. There was nobody there but he could still hear the footsteps approaching. Someone was coming, and he had a good idea of who it would be. Rather than sit and wait for his would-be attacker to show him or herself, Shinji decided on some sneaky tactics of his own. 

He walked until he reached a door that was clearly labelled Store Room and pushed the door open. He stepped into the small cramped room and backed up against the wall. Once concealed inside Shinji shut the door and sat down on the cold floor. Outside he could hear the footsteps getting louder, but he could also hear something else, something closer. 

He looked around trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room; there were shelves on either side of the room that were filled with cleaning equipment. As his eyes adjusted and his vision increased he could make out the thin outline of someone sitting right across from him. The figure pulled a finger up to its face "Shhh!" 

The sound from Shinjis tailer was now right in front of the door it stopped for a minute then continued on down the hall. Shinji sighed in relief from not being caught, his relief turned to dread when he felt a hard slightly wet object touch his forehead. The other occupant had now drawn a water pistol on him. "Ok I give" Shinji said dropping his gun and holding his hands up.

"I'm not going to shoot you Dumkopf" Asuka said with a laugh, she lowered the pistol and smiled, not that Shinji could see her smile. "Bout time you found me" she said a little annoyed. 

"W-what, you're not going to shoot me?" Shinji said sighing in relief, "Hold on why aren't you going to shoot me? You're supposed to shoot everyone."

"It would be rude to shoot your partner, Dumkopf," the redhead said in mock anger. 

"But there are no partners, no teams."

"Oh yeah? I know for a fact that Hikari and Toji have teamed up."

"How do you know?"

"Saw them hunting Kensuke together."

"Ok so what do you propose?"

"They would never hold their ground against two highly trained Eva pilots, would they?"

"That's a little unfair isn't it?"

"All's fair in love and war."

"Good point"

"So?"

"Ok, we'll team up; I still don't think it's fair though."

"Ok. Get the door Shinji."

The brown haired boy decided it best to team up he didn't want to ignore Asuka or anything. He saw how hurt she had gotten when he didn't talk to her that morning after the incident. He stood up and reached for the door grabbing the handle tightly he twisted it and pulled, "Uh oh"

"What?" Asuka also pulled her self to her feet then looked at the boy as he stood there with the door still closed. "What are you doing, open the damn door," she said impatiently. 

"Uh, I c-can't," Shinji replied trying once again to pull on the door it only rattled in its spot and didn't move. "It's stuck!" he said as he continued to pull on the door.

Asuka stepped up and pulled on Shinjis shoulder "here let me." Shinji stepped back allowing the redhead to gain access to the jarred door. With both hands on the door she tried pulling as hard as she could, "open…you…stupid…thing."

"Ah, Asuka maybe you shouldn't pull on the door so hard you might…" Shinjis warning was cut short as the German girls hands slipped off the door handle and she flew back. First she collided into Shinji who then fell back onto the floor followed by Asuka who landed on top of him, "slip."

"Ouch!" Asuka whined as she rubbed her hand on her back, "huh, that didn't hurt that much."

"Yeah it hurt me more," Shinji said wriggling underneath the redhead trying to get out without knocking her off.

Asuka looked down and saw the reason the fall didn't hurt that much, she had landed on Shinji who was behind her at the time. "Oops," she smiled and rolled over so that they were face-to-face. There was a long silence as Asuka just stared down at Shinji and he stared back up at her.

'Why is she looking at me like that?' Shinji thought as he stared up at his friends face, 'she looks so happy, comfortable almost at peace. Beautiful, she looks beautiful.  I never realised…oh stop it Shinji! She's your friend.'

"Compromising position, eh?" Asuka finally broke the silence but still remained where she was. "Close," she whispered slowly edging her face towards his all the while her mind screamed 'stop you idiot, you'll screw it all up.' The redhead dismissed the warnings her brain was sending and continued to descend upon the trapped boy, "so very close."

"Y-Yeah," Shinji swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. 'If she keeps staring at me like that…I won't be able to…resist.' Not knowing what to do the young Ikari shifted in his spot. "Close," his voice was barley above a whisper he looked straight up into her blue eyes; that was where his strength wavered, his resolve all but disappeared. 'Maybe, we could make it work. But one of us will be hurt, eventually. Then again no pain, no gain.'

Before he even knew it Shinji found himself slowly raising his head towards the advancing redhead. 'I'm going to regret this' he thought as they drew closer to each other. A second later and their lips met, just a slight touch at first. Asuka drew back an inch and looked into Shinjis eyes, looking for a sign to tell her to stop. Instead he lifted his head and kissed her softly again, this time lasting longer.

"HEY, try in here!"

Shinji and Asuka quickly broke apart at the sound of the voice outside. They both tried to hide their blushes. Asuka raised herself up off of the Third Child and straightened out her dress. Once she had finished she cast a glance at Shinji who was still half sitting up on the floor a forlorn look on his face. "Shinji, Shinji" she extended her right arm down to him.

Shinji was snapped out of the thoughts and worries that had plagued his mind and looked up to see Asuka holding out her hand. He looked at her curiously then he saw a small smile on her face, not the usual smile he saw. It looked more like the serene contented smile he saw on her face while she slept next to him on the nights one of them were scared. He nodded, mostly for his own benefit, smiled and took her hand and stood up. 

The redhead helped her friend to his feet but she pulled on his arm a little too hard causing him to almost collide with her for the second time that day. Shinji however was able to stop himself just inches from hitting Asuka. Once again the two found themselves staring into the others eyes, not looking for anything, just staring for the simple reason that they could. Once again Asuka began edging towards Shinji, after not hearing anything else from the outside presence she decided to pick up where they left off. 

The brown haired boy was also beginning to edge forward until the door began to rattle furiously. The two teens jumped back a bit so they were far enough away from each other, though Asuka was thoroughly disappointed. She felt it necessary to voice her opinion "damn!" 

Shinji smiled sheepishly at the redheads words of frustration and looked away to hide the slight, but still present, blush. A second later the door to the store room burst open revealing Kensuke with his video camera, Toji with his water gun and Hikari with…well herself. "Thank god we found you two" Hikari sighed in relief.

Kensuke pulled his camera up and hit record. He focused it on Asuka who stuck her finger up at him and gave the 'four-eyed' geek the most dreaded glare ever. Kensuke, taking that as a warning, moved the camera over to Shinji who was still a little red from the previous occurrence. 

"Kensuke it's not the time for that!" Toji yelled as he whacked his friend over the head, "Shinji there's an emergency."

Shinjis remaining blush dropped away and was replaced by a look of both confusion and worry. "NERV just called on your mobile" Hikari said hurriedly, "since you didn't have it with you I answered it. Miss Misato said to find you and tell you to get outside and meet her." 

"Shit," Shinji said loudly as he pushed past his friends to get out of the small room. The previous incident was now the furthest thing from his mind. Misato calling at school and getting them to meet her could only mean one thing: an angel. "Asuka let's go," he yelled back as he began to run toward the exit.

Asuka brushed past the two stooges, she stopped however when her arm was caught by the young brunette. "I want to know everything that happened in there," Hikari whispered into the redhead's ear. Asuka gave slight nod then took off after Shinji. 

Hikari turned back to Toji and Kensuke who were going over the footage just taken. "SEE, look there, he's blushing. Something happened in here," Kensuke said in his wannabe military intelligence voice. 

"No way," Toji said defiantly, "no way would Shinji betray us with that Devil woman, it's already bad enough that he lives with her. Even worse is that he's friends with her. But FOOLING around, that's just not Shinji."

"Then what do you think they were doing in here by themselves?" the spectacled boy said as he adjusted his glasses.

"I…I…I don't know, but it wasn't…THAT!" Toji almost yelled still willing to defend the honour of his friend, until such time as Shinji could defend himself and set Kensuke straight. 

"They were probably hiding from you two Bakas," Hikari stepped in between the two and grabbed them both by the ear, "now stop your gossiping and get back to class, before I give you clean up for a month."

"Oh no the wrath of the class rep," Toji whined

"You can say that again," Kensuke added.

"I heard that," Hikari smirked, "for that you two get clean up for a week."

"NOOOOOOO!"

"AHH CRAP!!!"

****

Asuka stood beside her co-pilots in a straight line facing the operations director, a tech named Maya Ibuki and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. The briefing room they resided in was small and dark apart from the light from the image projector on the floor. All three pilots stood at the attention in their plug-suits and were fully prepared for deployment. 

"At ease," the Sub-Commander said loudly, the pilots relaxed and the older man began to talk. "At 0900 this morning an unusual heat pattern was found emanating from the volcanic peek of Mt. Asama. You are all aware of the irregular weather over the last few days?" The pilots nodded in unison, "we have come to believe that this is the reason." 

Fuyutsuki nodded to Maya who pulled out a remote and pressed a button, the projector on the floor dimmed a little as an image of a black oval shaped shadow surrounded buy orange and red appeared. "Is that what I think it is?" Asuka gasped at the image. 

"Yes Asuka," Misato replied making her presence noticed "it's an Angel. We believe this is the chrysalis form that precedes the adult form we are familiar with. In other words…"

"It is a child," Rei said in her monotone voice, everyone stared at the blue haired girl who usually remained quiet unless spoken to. 

After the initial shock of Rei speaking when no one had addressed her Misato answered "that's correct Rei, this is an Angel before it matures, an egg. The commander has arranged for an A-17 order to be instigated."

"An A-17?" Shinji asked confused

"An A-17 is an order to capture a live Angel specimen."

"We're going to catch it?!" Asuka almost yelled.

"Yes," the Sub-Commander affirmed, "actually more like you're going to capture it," he looked at Shinji and smiled.

"M-Me?" Shinji gulped once again finding his throat clogged by that annoying lump, "b-but it's inside a volcano!"

"Yeah how the hell is he supposed to go into a volcano to capture an Angel?" Asuka said defiantly, a little worried about what they had planned for Shinji. 

"That is where the D-type equipment comes in," Maya said smiling smugly, "D-type equipment is especially designed for combat under extreme duress. With this equipment it is entirely possible for Unit-01 to descend into the volcano and extract the target."

"Misato" Asuka said sternly, "request permission to take Shinjis place as the pilot." 

Shinji gave Asuka a curious glance and she smiled slightly at him then returned her gaze to the director of operations. "Shinji do you have a problem with this?" Misato asked looking at the young boy.

"Is, is it dangerous?" he asked looking between the redhead pilot next to him and his violet haired guardian across from him. The response form the operations director was a simple nod. Shinji took one last glance at Asuka then spoke, "yes I do have a problem. I'll do it."

Asuka turned to Shinji and looked at him worriedly while Misato continued her explanation of the mission. "Very well Shinji and Unit-01 will be the divers, Asuka and Unit-02 will supply back up while Unit-00 and Rei will remain here on standby."

Still not believing the actions of her friend Asuka needed to relax, so she did what she always did to relax, tease someone. "Oh POOR Rei doesn't get to have any fun," she said mockingly to the stoic blue haired girl. She was a bit surprised when Shinji gave her a quick nudge but when she looked back at Misato she saw the reason for it. 

"If you're quite done?" Misato said sternly, frowning at Asuka she continued, "You two will leave in three minutes so get to your units."

"I am to remain here?" Rei asked quietly, feeling once again left out.

"Yes Rei."

****

"You know this suit isn't that much different from my other one," Shinji Ikari said confusedly as he stepped onto the gantry that lead to the Entry-plug of Unit-01. He had changed his into the suit given to him after they left the briefing room. 

The blonde Dr Ritsuko Akagi walked up behind the young pilot and checked her clipboard. "That's because you haven't activated it yet," she said with a small smirk, "press the button on your left wrist."

"Ok," Shinji, rather hesitantly, pressed the small button on the left wrist of the plug-suit. "Nothing's happening…AHHH!" the boy was unpleasantly surprised when he suddenly started to grow fatter. The suit expanded to full size leaving Shinji confused and worried, "what the hell?!"

"This suit is designed to resist the heat temperatures of a volcano" Ritsuko smiled trying to stop from giggling, "Unfortunately it's not designed with fashion in mind."

"SHINJI WHAT THE?!!!" Asukas yell was heard from the other gantry as she saw her friend in that ridiculous suit. Her confused gasp turned instantly into a hilarious laughing fit, "you finally got some meat on ya!"

Shinji sighed and looked over to the laughing redhead, who was about to fall off the gantry because she was laughing that hard. "It's not funny Asuka!" he yelled across to her, "just remember you volunteered to take my place."

"Yeah…SO?"

"I could quit and you'd have to do it," a sly smile crept across the boy's lips. Asuka however shut up instantly and turned away blushing slightly at the thought of herself in that suit. "I thought so," Shinji said confidently. 

"Unit-01 should be ready now" Ritsuko said allowing a little giggle to escape before turning serious once more. "The D-type equipment for Unit-01 is still just a proto type, unfortunately it is the only suit we have available, and it will only fit Unit-01."

The third child looked out to his once purple Eva and saw it was now dressed in a giant, fat diving suit. He could just make out the units eyes and mouth through the transparent plate that allowed the Eva to see. "Damn, you look worse than me," he whispered looking over to his Eva, "well too late to back out now."

****

Asuka looked on with watchful eyes as Unit-01 was being latched onto the end of a giant crane which was to lower him into the red cavern below. They sat on the top of the volcanic peek of Mt Asama waiting for an order to go. She was somewhat relieved at Shinjis attitude towards her and the mission. Usually he would have tried to get out of a mission like this, or at least complained a lot about it. But this time he hadn't so much as sighed. 

'He had a chance to let me do it so why didn't he?' Asuka thought idly while waiting in her entry plug. She and Unit-02 sat on the lip of the volcano waiting to provide backup if something went wrong. Not that she thought she could do anything, anyway. She would be out here and he would be down there. The thought sent a cold shiver down the redhead's spine. She didn't want to let anything happen to her best friend, the boy she loved. 

After their first kiss, she admitted the fact that she indeed loved someone; she thought she never could love anyone again after her mother. If she did she thought she would always live in fear of the moment that they left, by choice or not. Something told her that Shinji wouldn't leave by choice, nor would he allow himself to be taken by force, not while he still drew breathe. He too feared the pain of loneliness, Asuka knew this and every time she looked into his deep blue eyes she was reminded of that fact.

"You come back safe, Shinji," Asuka whispered, she turned to the image of Unit-01 as it descended into the volcano, "and if you don't protect him, I'll kill you myself." If the techs at the time hadn't been watching Unit-01 they would have seen the four eyes of Unit-02 glow bright white then return to normal. 

After feeling a rush of energy from her Eva Asuka shuddered, the power she felt was incredibly strong. She only felt it for a split second then it was gone, but she realised the feeling was familiar in two ways. The first was her first fight against an Angel, when Shinji stood beside her and they battled it out with the sixth under the Pacific Ocean. The second, she couldn't place her finger on it; it was more like a presence the feeling of someone close by watching her, guarding her. 

Asukas thoughts were interrupted by multiple voices engaged in a conversation over the comm channel. "Unit-01 has reached target depth" the voice was clearly that of the tech bunny Maya Ibuki.

"I don't see anything" Shinjis voice said a little confused, "there's nothing here."

"The currents must be faster than we anticipated," Ritsuko Akagi joined in the conversation. "Shinji we're sending you the new current data" she added, "go to that location."

"Roger."

A few minutes of silence passed, Asuka couldn't hear anything but the quickening pace of her heartbeat. The redhead was getting impatient from not hearing anything from the boy; she cracked and hit the comm button, "Shinji?"

A blurry image of the brown haired pilot appeared in the centre of her HUD, "yeah."

"Are you…never mind," she sighed knowing he was there still all that mattered to her, "have you found it?" She figured 'may as well ask to make it look like I was interested in his progress instead of his safety.'

"No."

"Eva has reached maximum allowed depth," Maya reported.

"There's nothing here," Shinji said annoyed "I'll keep looking."

"Shinji are you sure?" Misato asked a little worriedly.

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Ok, proceed with the operation."

"But Major, That armour can't take much more pressure, have you forgotten there's a human being in there?"

The redheaded German was getting sick of this fast, "yeah Misato." She then shifted to a more gentle tone, "Shinji come back up and we'll just bomb the mountain."

"NO!" Shinji yelled back, a little too aggressively as it threw 99% of the crew off guard. "I can keep going," he continued a little more quietly.

"Shinji Ikari!" Asuka growled, "Get your ass back up here right now or I'm gonna kill you myself, the Angel will have to take a number!"

"If it was you would you quit?"

"Well…ah no. But that's NOT the point; it's not ME it's YOU"

"Yeah…it's ME"

"OHHH you make me so mad sometimes…"

"Hold [on], I think I found it."

Asuka sat back and examined the small video image being relayed to the Mobile Command centre. There was a black shadow in amongst the fiery liquid deep in the volcanos interior. Shinji was close to it. He could reach it without anymore threat to his life. 

"Initiating capture sequence… contact in 3…2…1…contact…capture successful."

"YES that's my Shinji," two overexcited voices yelled simultaneously.

"HEY, he's my Shinji!!" Asuka fumed at the NERV operations director, "I knew him first."

"Oh yeah?" Misato yelled back, "I'm his legal guardian." With that comment the violet haired woman stuck her tongue out at the image of the Second Child then she pulled her eyelid down for emphasis.

"ARRGGHHH!" Asuka growled.

"They're acting like children," Ritsuko sighed loudly.

"Yeah and this is a good day," Shinji added with a chuckle.

"Hey Shinji I'm going to get you for that!" Asuka shouted at the boy.

"Me too," Misato glared at his wavering image, until something caught her eye, "SHINJI lookout!"

"What the?!! Misato!!...help…it…free…containment…failed," the image broke down into a screen full of static. Shinji's voice could barley be heard above the crackling sound. 

"SHINJI" Asuka shouted as she saw the screen go blank, "Misato what's going on?"

"I don't know"

"DO something!!"

"Like WHAT??"

"SOMETHING!!!!!!"

Misato whirled around in the command centre her eyes hard and stern, "boost the comm signal get me a link with Unit-01," she then turned to Ritsuko, "begin an analysis on the Angel, I want answers and tactics NOW!"

****

Shinji pulled hard on his butterfly controls, using the Evangelion's small claw-for-a-hand to pull his Prog-knife from its secure slot. "I can't see in this bloody shit!" he said frustrated at the lousy visibility. A few moments after beginning his return to the surface the Angel started going mental and the cage began to break. The being mutated right before the boy's eyes, as it broke free from its electric imprisonment. 

The Third Child had expected the Angel to attack him instead of running away, because his experience told him that Angels don't run. It was hunting him, using the low visibility of its natural habitat to confuse its intended prey. Shinji willed his Eva to turn on the cable to rotate for a better look around. He thought he saw a glimpse of something black off to the right, it looked serpent-like. 

The Eva rocked violently [as a black fin hit it, and] the Serpent Angel swam past with great speed. Shinji, regaining his senses, turned to see the tail of the beast disappear, "It's fast." He was once again rocked back and forth on the cable as something struck him from behind. Strangely his situation reminded him of a worm on a hook, waiting to be taken by the fish. "And like all worms on a hook," he pulled the Prog-knife up as a black shadow appeared in front of him, "they bite back."

In a split second the Angel and Eva were face-to-face. Shinji pushed his free hand up into the Angels mouth to stop it from closing over his Eva. His Prog-knife found its way toward the core on the roof of its mouth. Sparks flew as the blade dug deep into the core, or so he thought. He was pushing as hard as he could but the knife was unable to drive any further into the enemy. "Sh...in…ji" the comm rang with a familiar voice. 

"Misato!" he yelled while trying to keep his hold on the beast in front of him, "its core is too hard. I can't penetrate it."

"Shinji...accelerated…genetic…structure…the heat…need to…down…"

"What the?" Shinji asked dumbfounded. he tried frantically to place together all the words to form a coherent sentence. What he got, from adding a few words of his own, was "the Angel has accelerated its genetic structure because of the heat, you need to…something…down." He sighed to himself, "something…down."

At that moment the Angel whipped its tail around and cut through some of the cables that supplied the Eva its coolant. The white liquid sprayed back and forth as the cable lost its pressure. "Of course!" Shinji yelled.

FLASH

**Three Days Earlier**

"So whatcha doin' Shinji?" Asuka asked curiously, for one reason mainly. She had managed to drag Shinji to the pool with her and now he was sitting at a table looking at a damn computer. 

"Basic Physics Prima," he replied not looking up form the laptop he had brought along. 

Asuka leaned over the small table so she could better see what he was studying, subsequently revealing her well endowed chest, which was only covered by a skimpy swim suit. "You do know that's kids stuff right?"

"Yeah well I'll have to study it anyway…AHHH!" Shinji had finally looked up to come face to…chest with Asuka, "Uh…ah…"

"What's the matter with you? If you want I'll explain it to you," the redhead smiled slightly to herself as she knew her position was giving her the desired effect. Although she very well knew that getting him to notice her in that way was only half the battle. "Let's see," she started, "Thermal expansion huh? Well certain things expand when they get hot and contract when they get cold. For example." Asuka looked around to find an example then a sly smile grew on her lips, she stepped back and smiled devilishly. "If I were to warm up my breasts do you think they'd get bigger or smaller?"

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled blushing furiously and looking away.

FLASH

"THERMAL EXPANSION!!!!" he yelled excitedly, now knowing what to do he pulled his Prog –Knife out and then stabbed it into the Angels jaw allowing his other hand to let go. With his now free hand Shinji lifted it up and grabbed the broken coolant pipes. With a mighty thrust he pushed the pipes into the Angel mouth so that they sprayed onto the core. Once a sufficient amount of his leaking coolant had been splashed over the core Shinji willed his Eva to attack with the Prog-Knife again.

Sparks flew once more as the knife stabbed into the bright red bulb that was the core of the Angel. "Shinji…can you…hear me?" the comm buzzed back to life as the core began to crack. An instant later and the Angel stopped resisting; it was at that moment the red jewel in its mouth shattered. The Angel went limp but not before its tail whipped around for a final assault, to Shinjis surprise the attack went high and didn't hit the Eva. 

He was relieved that it was over and the communications had somewhat been restored, until he looked up. Unit-01s head shifted to gain a better view of the cable that held it dangling, "oh…no."

"Shinji, Shinji what's going on?" Misatos voice came over the comm as clear as if she was standing in front of his Eva. "What happened down there? Shinji, Shinji answer me please."

"The…the angel is dead but…" Shinji gulped audibly trying to rid his throat of that ever present lump, "but, my cable's been cut…I'm not coming back up."

"WHAT?!" Misato yelled in shock if Shinji could have her face the pure agony of it would've ripped him apart. "No, there has to be something, we'll think of something. Just hang in there Shinji!"

"Misato, I…don't have much time," he sighed looking up at the last strand of the metallic fibre, "I just, I just want you to know…that I love you…like a mother. Thank you…for being there." Tears began to roll down the boys face as he tried to say his goodbyes knowing the end was close, the final strand of fibre snapped and the Eva began to sink deeper into the earth. The white diving suit began to crumple under the immense pressure, "tell Asuka that I'll always be with her, and it would've been nice to kiss her again." 

Shinji closed his eyes releasing the tears freely as he thought of the faces he would miss Misato, Asuka, Kensuke, Toji, even the class rep. The Eva jerked forward then halted in its position. After the initial shaking Shinji looked around, "did I hit something?" He looked around, but his answer only came when he looked up to see four glowing white eyes and an outstretched hand. 

A small fuzzy box opened on Shinjis screen, "you can tell me yourself Ikari, cause you're not going anywhere without ME." 

****

Shinji Ikari discarded the white and blue plug-suit and changed back into his comfortable school uniform. He looked idly at the suit that he had thrown into the small trash receptacle. His thoughts wandered to what had just transpired. The fact that he almost died had only just started to sink in. He looked closely at the things he had until now taken for granted, his relationship with Misato, her love as a mother figure, his friendships with Toji and Kensuke, even the class rep Hikari. Then he thought of his wavering relationship with his best friend, she had risked it all to save him, but did he really mean that much to her? If so maybe he could indeed begin something with her; love her like she loved him, or at least try. 

After defeating the Angel Asuka had heard the conversation between Misato and Shinji. She had decided then and there that she wouldn't let him die; she wouldn't stand by and watch him fall to his death. And even though she could've died herself she took that chance to save him, content with the excuse that if she died at least it would've been with him. Shinji sighed not knowing that when the time came that he could repay the debt, or if he could say the same about dying with her, only time would tell. 

Shinji sighed once again then grabbed the small bag he kept in his locker, he resolved to go and see Asuka once she had gotten out of her 'Chewing' session with Misato. Not to his surprise when Misato ordered Asuka to stop the redhead told the violet haired woman to go shove it, only in much more colourful terms. Once they had been pulled out Asuka was dragged off to the mobile command centre and Shinji to the mobile Infirmary for an immediate check up. 

With his clothes changed and his small bag packed the brown haired boy stepped out of the small van and onto solid ground once more. They were still on the lip of Mt Asama where the operation had taken place. He started his trek to where Misato would be scolding Asuka, exchanging thanks to people who congratulated him on a job well done. He came to a stop as he saw his Eva sitting up straight. Cranes were slowly removing the white suit from around the unit to determine the actual damage. It looked as though the diving suit had taken the brunt of the assaults and pressure caused by the Angel and temperature. 

The boy smiled as he neared the large truck that acted as Mobile HQ, he could very well hear Misato's loud screaming even form this distance. He smiled broadly at the thought of Asuka just sitting there and taking it all, not that she would. That's why he began to chuckle to himself. He could just see the look on his friends face at that moment and it wasn't pretty. 

At that moment the most annoyed and pissed off redhead the world Shinji had ever seen kicked the door to the MHQ open and stormed down the ramp. "Damn stupid, who the hell does she think she is?" she grumbled loudly, so angry that she failed to notice the boy standing a few [meters] away. 

"Your COMMANDING officer!!!" Misato answered from inside the truck, "And don't YOU forget it!!"

"OH I WON'T!!" Asuka yelled back sarcastically. She began mumbling under her breathe, "Stupid bitch, I'd like to see her jump into an active volcano to save someone." 

At that moment the redhead looked around the base area noticing two things, first the changing vans door was open. She followed a set of footprints left in the ground and soon came to the second thing. 

Her face instantly lightened up and she ran as fast as she could to the boy, throwing her arms around him in an embrace even Misato would be jealous of. "Shinji, I'm so glad you're ok" Asuka buried her face in his chest and sniffled "I thought I would never see you again."

Shinji smiled as he hugged the girl back. Revealing his feelings to one person couldn't hurt could it? He had already told Misato that he loved her, so maybe he could tell Asuka or try at least. "Thanks to you, you can see me anytime," he whispered softly into her ear. Asuka pulled out of the embrace just a fraction so she could see Shinjis face, he smiled warmly at her ",you just saved my life. How can I ever repay you?"

Asuka smiled back at the Third Child, "well you could take me to dinner and maybe a movie. Or just somewhere fun."

"You mean take you out on a date?"

"Well…n-no, just as friends going out."

"Alright, a date it is," he smiled at her slightly surprised look, she was even more surprised when he pulled her lips to his initiating a long drawn out kiss. She smiled in her own mind as he kissed her with increasing passion, happy at what she had managed to do though the extent she had not yet realised. She was all too happy to return the kiss.

As they parted from lack of air Asuka sighed contentedly, she then smiled slyly and whispered, "what happened to Mr Patient?" 

The answer the redhead received she did not expect.

Shinji just smiled and brushed a lock of Asukas red hair out of her face, "didn't you here?" he paused and smiled broadly, "he melted in a volcano." With that he kissed her again, happy with the knowledge that for the first time in his life, there was something worth living for. 

****

A/N: AHHH YES, the end of the Old Friends……………………chapter ten anyway! HAHAHA got yas didn't I? Heh I can't stop yet, not since I just got me a few new ideas ^_^ Well there you go that was the 8th Angel and my little tweaks to that encounter. That was fun to write cause I'm a romantic at heart, yep I may only be sixteen but I know what love is and I like it…a lot ^_^ 

Also I (Bucky) require some help from you (whoever you are) in some of this Fic. If ya haven't noticed by now this fic revolves around Shinji and Asuka and their little relationship, so what I wanna do is branch out a bit, starting with Rei. Considering she actually gets into some fights soon it would be a good idea to get to know the Rei in my fic. BUT I am hopeless at writing Rei in cause she is so boring and well…boring. So I need Rei scenarios, especially ones that may interfere with Shinji and Asukas relationship therefore giving me the perfect reason for Asuka to hate and resent the 'ice-queen.' So any ideas are welcome send them to bucky1@swirvemail.com with the subject of Fic Ideas and I'll take a look at em. I'd really appreciate the help ^_^

And before I forget I'd like to give a big thank you to my newest, well only actually, Pre-reader Autophage for the major corrections to my pathetic grammar and spelling and for his little pointers. Thanx man and I'm glad ta have ya on board ^_^    

Seya on da other side peoples……………………                                                                    


	11. Friends, that’s what they’re there for!

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 11: Friends, that's what they're there for!

Shinji Ikari pulled his Eva up to the wall of a nearby apartment building, pulling the Pallet-Rifle close to his chest. Shinji could feel the movements of the Eva as they were carried out seemingly perfectly. If Shinji hadn't of known his last synch score he'd have guessed he was at 100%. In reality he was only 69% which for the amount of time he had been piloting was exceptional. Asuka had told him so many times that he should be happy that he can synchronize so well. The redhead also warned him not to get too good, other wise she'd beat his Eva to a pulp. 

The young Ikari wasn't about to go beating Asukas score anyway, it's not like he cared whether or not it was high. If he had a choice he'd be out of there at the first chance he got. Eva wasn't important to him, nor was NERV. The only reason he was here was…he didn't know why he was here.

"Look out Shinji!"

The screaming of a certain redhead was enough to snap Shinji out of his daydreaming. He ducked quickly allowing the red spike, aimed for his head, to smash harmlessly into the apartment building behind him. Shinji then brought his left hand up and grabbed the Angel around the wrist. The Angel whipped its other hand down under the first aiming for the Evas chest. Unit-01 skilfully dropped its rifle then caught the second attack with a well placed right hand. The brown haired boy willed the Eva to pull hard on both the enemies' hands pushing them both against each other in an 'X'. Unit-01 stood once again to full hight bringing its pilot face-to-face with the Third Angel, Sachiel.

"So, we meet again," Shinji smiled to himself, as he pictured himself as the gruff action hero from a movie saying some 'one liner' like that. He shook his head and chuckled at the thought then returned his mind to the task at hand. With no more than a thought the Eva lifted its foot and pushed it deep into the Angels gut, if it even had one. Sachiels stomach began to cave in form being pushed with so much pressure. Shinji saw the effect and drove his foot even harder into the Angel. A moment later and a loud cracking sound was heard as the Third Angels spinal cord was snapped brutally in half.

Shinji lifted the Angel effortlessly into the air and threw it to the right, causing some minor structural damage to a nearby garage. With one Angel indisposed of he began seeking the next target. He found a new one a second later heading down along the main railway of the 3rd street station. 

With an eager grin on his face the brown haired pilot headed toward the station, stopping only to remove a new weapon from its rack, this time a spear. As he closed in Shinji could see the upper body of the Angel. As he suspected it was the Angel of his second fight, Samshel. He turned the corner and saw the entire being, standing in the middle of the road about a block away from him. 

Shinji stood with his legs spread out and the tip of his Spear resting on the road below. The angel turned slightly to gain a better view of its target. Upon seeing the Eva, Samshel began to thrash about. It whipped its long laser tentacles around in the air slicing through street poles and buildings on either sides of it. 

Unit-01 stood there as its pilot watched the Angel thrash around destroying buildings to show its might. Shinji however was not impressed, he just smiled to himself. The Angel stopped and stood silently awaiting something, as if giving the Eva the chance to show off as well. 

The young Ikari took this opportunity; he willed his Eva to flick the spear it held into the air. He waited for a second until the spear flipped and twisted back towards the ground, once at the right height Shinji grabbed the weapon with his right hand. Caught in the perfect throwing position the Eva reared up and thrust forward, releasing the spear at the best time. It rocketed through the air at a high speed towards the Angel, aimed directly at its core.

Samshel saw the metallic weapon and whipped out his tentacles, ripping the spear in half. The weapon fell to the ground in two pieces smoking from the heat of the attack. The Angel, happy with its work turned its attention back to the Eva, but it wasn't there, the street before Samshel was empty. 

A second later the Angels core began to crack, starting off small then growing bigger. Samshel flailed its tentacles wildly trying to hit something, anything, trying to preserve its life. But it was too late, the core shattered and the culprit was revealed, a glowing silver blade known as the progressive knife.

****

"How many kills is that now?" Misato Katsuragi queried. She was watching the action from the Simulator Observation Deck. She had been there since nine in the morning and was still there at one in the afternoon. 

Ritsuko looked up from her console then smiled, "That one makes thirty three, straight."

"THIRTY THREE!"

"What did you expect? We have been here for almost four hours, you know."

Misato sighed as she watched on in morbid fascination, the first time he saw it Shinji had denied the request to pilot the Eva. Now, for some reason he wouldn't get away from it. 'It's like he's afraid of something,' she thought worriedly. "Why do you think he's acting like this?"

"I'm not sure" the blond doctor answered, "we are reading some high adrenaline spikes but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Are you guys talking about Shinji again?" Asuka asked as she stepped into the room, "you know he doesn't like people talking about him behind his back." 

The redhead had changed into a fresh school uniform ready to go to school for the rest of the day, though she didn't want to. She wandered over to the comm and pressed the button, "come on Shinji, you've killed enough. Time to go to school you don't want to keep me waiting do you?"

Shinjis voice came over the comm shortly afterward, "Okay, I'll be out in a sec."

Ritsuko and Misato exchanged confused looks then both stared at the redhead, Misato decided to speak, "Uh, Asuka. What's going on with Shinji?"

"What do you mean?" the younger girl asked curiously.

"We mean he has been showing some drastic changes in his psyche," Ritsuko chided in hoping to plug the German girl for info. Asuka just looked at her confused, the blond continued, "well over the last few battles we've had to push up hill to get Shinji into an Eva. Now he spends as much time in there as…well, you! Seeing as though you're his best friend maybe you know something that we don't?"

The redhead glared at the two older women, "so just because Shinji is acting like a man you think there is something wrong with him? You two make me sick."

"Asuka!" Misato almost yelled, her voice was loud and stern but not quite a yell, "if you know something about why Shinji is acting like this I want you to tell me. That's an order."

Asuka turned around and started for the door, she sighed loudly as she could feel both adults' eyes looking at her with 'the LOOK.' Every teenager knows 'the look' it's halfway between anger and concern. Angry cause you won't tell them something and concern for what they will do to you if you don't tell them. She smiled to herself and kept walking while she stated simply, "he's just learning to protect his girlfriend."

The door slid shut behind the redheaded pilot and the two older women stood there with their mouths hanging wide open. Ritsuko was shocked, Misato was SUPER shocked. Dr Akagi turned to the violet haired woman "Shinji…has a girlfriend?!"

Misato, who until now had been holding her breath, replied slowly "new…new one on me." She blinked her eyes a few times then used her index finger on her right hand to scrape out any ear wax from her ear. "A girlfriend? Shinji? We must have heard her wrong," she concluded. 

"Somehow, I don't think we could have both heard wrong," Ritsuko sighed, the two women looked out the observation window as the digital city disappeared and all that was left was a silver Test-Plug and a gantry leading to the changing rooms. 

The plug opened and the figure of Shinji Ikari stepped out, he stretched languidly before looking over to the observation deck. As he waved to them they saw Asuka approach him on the gantry, Shinji turned to her and they exchanged what looked like a high five before both teens left the room. 

"Looks like you better do some digging," Ritsuko smiled to her friend.

"Why? It's not really any of my business."

"Oh come on, we both know you're just dieing to know who it is."

"Oh and why are you so eager for me to find out?" 

"Well, I want to know too. I don't get much to gossip about down here, if it weren't for these children I wouldn't have any entertainment."

"You need to get out more."

"I'll get out more when you drink less."

"Ha, I'll see you in a million years then."

****

Kensuke Aida sat in his chair at the back of the classroom where the students of 2-A spent seventy percent of their day. He was bored shitless as usual and was fighting to stay awake through the Sensei's constant lecturing of Second Impact. Overall the day had been dull, Shinji had synch tests in the morning and Toji wasn't always the best for conversation. 

The spectacled boy just settled for running over his hour's worth of footage, particularly the footage of Eva battles. He smiled as he watched the first battle of Tokyo-3 from the vantage point of the school roof. He had ignored the warning sirens that night, after hacking into his fathers section of NERV; he had learned an experimental weapon would be used. Of course the young Aida had to get it on film so he chose the top of the school to view it from. The school was far enough from the battle but not to far that he didn't get it on film with the zoom. 

He wondered idly what it would take to become a pilot, from what Shinji had told him you just get chosen. He had dreamed of becoming a pilot ever since he saw the Evangelions and he had pestered Shinji on many occasions to put in a good word for him. Kensuke looked up from his camera as he noticed the Sensei had stopped blabbering and the class's attention was redirected. 

"AH Hem," the Sensei coughed as the two pilots entered the room, "welcome mister Ikari, Miss Soryhu. Please be seated and could I see both of you at the end of class to hand out your missed homework for the last few days?"

"Yes Sensei," both teens answered in complete unison, the Synch training still somewhat stuck in their minds. This little act caused a string of chuckles and giggles from the rest of the class. Asuka sat down in a seat close to Hikari and Shinji made his way to the back.

Asuka shot Shinji a pleading look and then motioned with her head to the empty seat to the left of her. The young Ikari took a glance at the redhead then to his friend, Kensuke, in the back. Kensuke started to wave Shinji over but stopped when the brown haired boy gave him an apologetic look then sat next to the girl that the two stooges had labelled the Devil. 

"Hey, why didn't he come up to us?" Toji whispered to Kensuke who was a seat behind him.

"I don't know, maybe he has to talk to the Devil or something," Kensuke answered as equally quiet, trying to avoid a detention. "Maybe we should ask him later," the spectacled boy added. 

Toji grinned and opened his laptop computer, "let's ask him now." With that he began to type in a message, once done the jock checked it over then hit the send button.

Shinji blinked in surprise when a message appeared in his inbox, though he had a vague idea of who it was from. He opened the message and looked it over before beginning to type his response. 

Kensuke leaned forward so he could view Tojis screen better, he was as equally curious to find out why his friend had sat near the front. "What does it say?" he inquired. 

"Get back and I'll tell ya," the jock said. He looked over the return message and sighed, "It says he'll talk to us later." Toji looked back at Kensuke then over at Shinji who was whispering something to Asuka, "something doesn't seem right."

After another half hour of Second Impact rambling the bell rang signalling lunch had begun. Only three days had passed since the attempted capture of the 8th Angel and the days had somewhat cooled down. Shinji noted that he would soon have to face the daunting task of telling his friends about his new relationship with Asuka. Surprisingly no one knew yet, not even Misato.

After the Volcano fiasco Shinji and Asuka were given Tuesday off, they were alone that day due to Misato having to do the ton of paper work that was involved in an A-17 order. 'Poor Misato never catches a break,' Shinji thought idly. Wednesday was spent at NERV for a very long and boring debriefing followed by synch tests and simulation drills. Now it was Thursday and they had just got back from even more of the same aforementioned boredom. 

"Hey Shinji," the sounds of voices and scuffling shoes snapped the young Ikari back to the real world, and away from his musings. He was still seated with Asuka, standing next to him, while talking with Hikari. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Toji and Kensuke approach him from behind.

"Hey guys," Shinji said, waving to them and smiling warmly, "what's up?"

"Yo Shin-man, nuttin much," Toji came up and slapped Shinji on the shoulder, not really hard though. "So why were you, Rei and the Devil away for the last few days?" he asked as he sat on the edge of a table. 

"Yeah what happened?" Kensuke questioned as he too took up residency on a table to Shinjis left. "We heard there was some kind of battle" the spectacled boy informed pushing his glasses up on his nose. 

"Well, yeah there was an Angel…egg in the Mount Asama Volcano," Shinji answered noting that he had caught Kensukes complete attention. "Yeah well they found it and sent the Evas to try and catch it something called an A-17 operation or something like that. Anyway I was chosen to go into the volcano and pull it out…but the damn thing hatched and I had to kill it."

"Yeah so what happened, you killed it good right?" Toji slammed his right fist into his left palm for emphasis. 

"Well yeah," the brown haired boy answered while scratching the back of his head, "Oh by the way, you might want to study that thermal expansion stuff. It really saved my butt."

"Oh and it's such a cute butt too," Asuka said leaning over Shinjis shoulder. The comment caused Toji and Kensuke to start gagging and making mock disgusted sounds, "oh I didn't notice the two stooges were here. I think I'm going to go outside with Hikari so I don't catch idiot germs or something." 

She leaned her mouth closer to Shinjis ear and whispered, "Don't be too long, I don't want you catching idiot germs from them either."

"Hey we heard that!" Kensuke said with an angry frown. Toji joined in and both the stooges glared openly at the redhead. Asuka just stuck her tongue out at them and walked off with Hikari, following close behind.

"Man how da hell do ya put up with her?" Toji sighed as he returned his attention to his pilot friend. 

"Well…uh…she's not that bad Toji," Shinji stammered trying to defend Asuka, "you just need to get to know her. Once you've spent as much time as I have with her you'll see that she's really a…great person."

"NO way! There is no way in hell that the Devil girl could be a 'great person!' It's just not humanly possible. Unless…" Toji began to scratch his chin, realizing he had found a good way to tease his friend, "Shinji has a thing for Devil girl."

"Ooooohhhh Shinji and the devil, this is a startling discovery," Kensuke joined in with his joking tone, also scratching his chin.

"Shinji how could you?" Toji continued in mock disappointment, though a smile was evident on his face. 

The young Ikari however decided to turn a bright shade of red which could only be rivalled by Unit-02 itself. "Uh…yeah…ok…um g-guys, there's um something I want to tell you…uh…"

"Oh come on Shinji we're just joking there's no need to be THAT embarrassed," Kensuke said with a huge grin on his face. 

"Unless…" Tojis face became deadly serious and he scratched his chin yet again, "unless…OH NO!"

Shinji just nodded in confirmation to what his friend had guessed, he couldn't help but blush even more, if such a thing were possible. Toji on the other hand was a pale white colour, you know the one that happens when someone just said that your favourite Anime has been cancelled and will never be shown again?

 "Shinji how could you?!" the track-suit wearing Jock began to shake his fist in the air, "you, you betrayed us! What's worse is you betrayed us with our mortal enemy, if she is mortal! I could understand if it was with Ayanami but DEVIL GIRL???!!!! ARGHH!!! I know you two have history but…yuck I can't even think about it."

"Calm down Toji," Kensuke said placing his hand on his friends shoulder, "you're gonna pop a blood vessel or something."

"Yeah Toji you better just settle down," Shinji added still quiet nervous of the exchange. 

"Shinji" Kensuke, after subduing Toji, turned to the brown haired Eva pilot, "do you think this is wise?" 

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean investing your emotions in an unpredictable, bitchy, selfless girl like Asuka."

"Hey, she's not like that to me, and she already told me…that…"

"That what?"

"That she loves me."

Tojis brain had had enough and he promptly fell off the table and passed out on the floor. Kensuke on the other hand held a small serene smile on his face, one that said to Shinji congratulations. "Well then, I suppose that I must wish you luck Shinji," the spectacled boy said patting Shinji on the shoulder. 

"You mean…you're ok with it?" Shinji stammered a little confused at the sudden change in his friend. 

Kensuke just smiled even wider and replied softly, "Who are we to argue with love. Just don't get hurt Shinji and whatever you do…don't let her go."

"I won't and thanks, for being my friend and understanding."

"That's alright; I'll deal with Toji you go to your Devil girlfriend"

Girlfriend, that was the first time he had heard Asuka called that, he liked the sound of it. Shinji smiled at his friend and stood up; he took one last look at Toji still passed out on the floor and gave a small chuckle. He then turned on his heals and began to weave his way in and out of the chairs and tables to the door. 

As Shinji left the room Kensuke Aida was left alone, apart from the now semi-conscious Toji Suzuhara on the floor next to him. Kensuke smiled, "all the luck to you Shinji. You deserve to be happy."

****

Asuka sat down under one of the few trees in the school courtyard; she had noticed that this school lacked trees and shrubs even around the sports oval. She smiled as her new friend Hikari Horaki sat down next to her, nestling herself in amongst the roots of the tree. Both girls leaned back against the tree trunk and opened the bento boxes that contained their school lunches. 

The redheaded German began to immediately dig into her bento box and start eating her lunch. Hikari on the other hand sat there looking at her friend questioningly, and it only took Asuka a minute to stop eating and notice the freckled teen staring at her.

"What?"

Hikari blushed a little and looked away, "um…you know…you told me that you'd tell me what's between you and Ikari." She looked back at her friend the blush no longer present, "so…?"

Asuka sighed loudly and put what food remained back into her lunch box, "Okay where to begin? Alright you know that we used to live together right?" 

Hikari thought for a second then shook her head, Asuka sighed again, "You know that we've known each other for years. Well, we know each other because we used to live together, when we were four. Anyway, I always felt something around Shinji and at first I just thought it was friendship."

"But?"

"But when I was taken back to Germany, I was, heart broken. They took me away from the one thing I knew. I knew that Shinji would be there for me, and they took me away from him. Then when they told me I would be a pilot, I thought that was good because it would get my mind off Shinji, but later I was told that I would end up back in Japan. Well I got excited because I knew I would see him again. You see, I thought about him a lot. I mean, practically all the time. I thought that as I got older I would forget him, but I didn't." 

"That's so sweet Asuka." Hikari clasped both hands together and smiled sweetly.

"Tell me about it. Anyway earlier this year they told me I would be shipping out to Japan along with Eva Unit-02. I tried to track down Shinji and his uncle, but I learned that Shinji had moved and his uncle was in a hospital. I knew then it would be hard to find him, but I was determined. Then I got the biggest shock of my life, on the boat that was escorting me back to Japan, Shinji showed up. The most shocking thing was to find out that he was the famous Third Child and that I would once again be living with him."

"So after being apart for many years you two hooked up and now you're going out?"

"It didn't happen that easy you know, he did put up a bit of resistance but hey, no man could resist the charm of Asuka Langley Soryu." Asuka decided to leave the story at that, considering she had just told the class rep her entire relationship with the boy that she loved, then again if you couldn't tell another girl who would you tell? 

"Well that is really sweet Asuka," Hikari sighed loudly and looked down at the ground between her feet. "I wish that I could have that kind of relationship with someone."

"You mean the stooge?" the redhead grunted, "he isn't worth your worrying Hikari, he doesn't even realise that you like him. I mean everyone else does apart from the two stooges and my ignorant boyfriend."

"Hey that's no way to talk about your boyfriend," Asuka looked up and realised that at some time during the conversation Shinji had approached them. He stood above them with his hands buried deep into his pockets, "I don't know maybe the guys were right and I'm going out with the wrong girl. Maybe I'll go ask Rei out" He turned around and started to walk off smiling to himself. 

"Oh, no you don't!" Asuka jumped forward and wrapped both arms around Shinjis chest from behind, "you ain't going anywhere buddy." With that she pulled him back and they both fell to the ground, the end result was Asuka sitting on the ground and Shinjis head in her lap. "That's better," she said with a smirk.

"Shinji looked up at the redhead as she leaned over, he managed a short "ouch," before she kissed him softly on the lips.

"So, how did the stooges take the news?" Asuka asked as she leaned back up against the tree, "badly I suspect."

Shinji crawled up and managed to sit against the tree next to Asuka, "take whatever you're thinking and multiply it by ten, then you'll have fifty percent of what happened."

"That bad huh?" 

"Yup."

"Why are they so against you two?" Hikari asked a little unsure of wether or not to leave the two alone. 

"They hate me."

"They think Asuka's a bitch," Shinji said, his reward was an elbow to the gut, "Hey! I didn't say it, they did."

"You know what I'm dreading?"

"What?"

"Telling Misato."

****

A/N: Well there's another chapter done ^_^ I'd like to apologise to all whom it may concern you all remember how fast I used to get chaps out. Well I'm sorry I'm slowing down a bit but I don't the holidays have made me lazy and I can't think properly. So bare with me peoples. 

Anyway that's that chap done, next chap I'll get going on some Rei stuff, hopefully, and also Misatos reaction to Shinji and Asuka dating and living in the same house. Will she try to split them up? Will she let them stay in the same house together? Who knows……oh yeah I do HAHAHAHAHA ^_^

Thanks to my Pre-Reader Autophage for correcting any mistakes he may find, I have pathetic Grammar and sometimes spelling. And also a warm welcome to eva_pilot23 who is known to me as Insomniac to the ranks. Good luck wit Pre-Reading my stuff buddy and once again welcome to the other side ^_^

Seya on da other side……………                                                                                                                                                                                                                         


	12. Guardian Angels, Yeah right!

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter: 12: Guardian Angels, Yeah right!

As usual Shinji had found it hard to sleep the night before. His dreams were haunted by deeply suppressed memories, ones he'd rather forget. True, they were less frequent now, but when they did appear they were terrible. The problem with them was that every morning when he woke up, he remembered everything, in complete detail. 

This morning was no exception.

After he and Asuka got home from school he had decided to retire early, really early, to try and catch up on some sleep; big mistake on his part. He had planned on telling Misato about Asuka and himself that night, but he was too tired. He lied awake for three hours, listening to his SDAT, leaving his room only to eat and say goodnight to his roommates. Asuka wasn't the only one to shoot him a worried glance as he quietly slipped back into his room.

He dreamt of her again last night, unknown to him, exactly who 'she' was. A girl, his size and age roughly, long grey hair that shined with a milky glow in the moonlight. This didn't seem too strange. He had seen many Anime shows with girls who had grey hair; it was the eyes, however, that drew in his attention. Those eyes seemed to bypass the barriers of his mind and look directly into his soul, those dark, red eyes. 

Shinji sighed loudly as his eyes finally adjusted to the early morning light in his room. He hadn't realised he had awoken, but knew that he had been stuck somewhere between sleep and consciousness. In that instant, a fragment of his dream emerged. 

_Shinji stood on the shores of a lake, surrounded by rubble. The girl with her noticeably silver locks stood before him. Her slender feet rested serenely above the water, without so much as causing a ripple. Then she spoke, "Have you ever had a dream Shinji? One that was so real that you could swear you were awake? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you tell the difference between the dream and the real world?"_

A soft whimper brought the brown haired boy back from his thoughts. He halfway sat up, but soon found it to be impossible due to the two arms wrapped around his waist; the more he tried to sit up the harder the arms squeezed. He looked to his left to see the familiar face of Asuka Langley Soryhu, his best friend-turned-girlfriend. 

She was still asleep with the most content smile on her lips; one that Shinji hadn't seen in all the years he knew her. When did she sneak into his room? Better yet, when did he fall asleep? No answers came, and all that he could remember was his SDAT clicking over to the final song on the tape and indicating that it was almost out of power. 

Shinji lay his head back down on his pillow, which was half occupied by Asuka. The scarlet haired girl let out another soft whimper and her peaceful smile slipped away; her face contorted into that of agony. 

This time the young Ikari was awake to see a single tear slide down Asuka's cheek and wet the cloth, covering the pillow. Very slowly, he shifted closer to her and leaned his head in. 

"Are your dreams as troubled as mine?" he whispered softly before he brought his hand up to wipe the tear away. "I hope not." Shinji released a long breath and kissed Asuka on the forehead before settling back into the pillow for some additional sleep.

Any chances of that, however were washed out as the boy heard the all-too-familiar 'whoop' from his other roommate. 

It was confirmed. Misato was up and already chugging down her first beer of many. He sighed loudly as the redhead next snuggled against him began to stir, awakened by the loudest morning person in the entire world. 

The first thing Asuka was aware of was warmth; the second would have been the feeling of another's skin on her arms. She would have liked for that to have been the element that had woken her, unfortunately that was not the case. She turned her head slightly so she was looking at the door and gave her 'graceful-as-usual' response to such annoyances.

 "QUIET!!!!" 

"AWWW, sounds like Asuka woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!!" Misato teased from the kitchen while throwing back her head to accept half the contents from another can. 

Asuka growled, spun her head round and buried it deep into the pillow trying to block out the noise Misato was causing. After about three seconds, however, the girl realised that the bed's other occupant was indeed awake. She lifted her head from the pillow and looked at the boy next to her. He was sitting up slightly, resting his head against the wall behind his bed. The redhead noted that he was staring straight ahead, not paying any attention to the commotion outside, not even blinking. 

"I see you're awake," Shinji said softly, while continuing to stare over the girl beside him.

"Um, yeah…morning," Asuka sat up a little, still holding her arms around Shinji's chest. "How long have you been awake?" she asked, settling herself up against the wall also. 

"About five minutes," the brown haired boy answered finally shifting his gaze to his companion. He smiled slightly at her, "and when did you sneak in?"

Asuka couldn't help but turn a light shade of crimson, though she had slept in his bed before. "Well, about four o'clock, maybe a little earlier, but only by a few minutes." Asuka looked up at Shinji, smiled, and put on the innocent look, "I had a nightmare."

Shinji laughed softly and Asuka joined in, "yeah right."

"Really."

"Yeah I believe you (cough) not."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Who, me? No, I'd be to scared to tease the devil."

"Oh now you're going to get it Shinji!" Asuka proclaimed while giving the brown haired boy a light slap over his head, "I wonder if you're still…TICKLISH!!"

"Oh shit!" 

Shinji tried to squirm away but Asuka still had one arm effectively pinning him to the wall. She smiled like a cat that had just found the entrance to a canary cage wide open. With her free hand the feisty German female began to mercilessly tickle the boy's chest causing him to chuckle. 

"Okay! Okay! Stop! Stop!"

"Do you surrender?"

"Never!" Shinji guffawed, trying another failure-of-an-escape-tactic to save his pride from further humiliation.

"Ok then," Asuka shrugged and repositioned her hands under Shinji's armpits to continue her 'torture', "still wanna resist?" 

"No! No! Okay, you win!"

"HAHA, Asuka Langley Soryhu always wins!" the redhead released her grip on the boy and sat up a bit.

Shinji smiled warily at Asuka, as she retreated somewhat, and then took the situation into his own hands. With one skilful leap he grabbed Asuka's arms with one of his own, linking them so that it would be impossible to escape. 

"My turn," he smiled devilishly, "Now I just have to remember where you were ticklish the most." 

He started with a light tickle under her arm, causing her to giggle slightly "You're not even close Shinji."

"I remember where it was," he smiled and moved his hand to her back. He slid it down softly until he found the spot that he was looking for. "There it is." Slowly, he started to tickle her weak spot, found many years ago during their pillow fights that had ended in tickle wars. It was on her back below the fifth lumbar down. 

Asuka found herself holding in the laughter as best she could, so well in fact her face was beginning to turn a bright red. Shinji smiled and just tickled faster until the redhead could no longer stand it. She burst out laughing and began squirming about trying to free herself, "You're a meanie Shinji Ikari."

"SHINJI! ASUKA! Get up or you'll be late for school!" Misato yelled as she opened Shinjis door, but thankfully didn't bother looking in. The violet haired woman just mechanically opened it, ignorantly shouted inside, and continued down the hall to her room for the same dressing routine. 

The two teens exchanged amused looks and then got out of the bed Asuka was a little reluctant to stand too close to Shinji in case he tried to get her again. Shinji decided to use Asukas fear against her to get to the bathroom first; he looked at her as if he'd resume his attack. Seeing the look in Shinji's eye, Asuka backed away; unfortunately the only place to go was the corner of his room. 

"You're not going to get me again Shinji," she warned him with a mock-glare in her eyes.

The young Ikari smiled and then looked behind him to his door, "You're right, but I'll get to the bathroom first." With that he took off into the hallway, Asuka following behind waving her fist menacingly in the air.

****

After finishing a much-hastened shower, Shinji immediately went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and the usual lunches for him and Asuka. He did this every morning for two reasons: the first was he hated the school cafeteria food, and the second was that he hated Misato's cooking even more. You could say all the nice things about Misato in the world, but the one thing you can't add to her list of compliments would be a good cook.

The early morning drunkard's cooking could make anyone see instant food as a gourmet meal with all the fancy trimmings. If just burning an instant meal were pathetic, Misato would have to study the culinary arts for three years to earn such a prestigious label.

The brown haired boy, pilot to Evangelion Unit-01, was good at everything he tried to cook. He had made friends with Pen-Pen when he first moved in because the poor bird was glad someone was there to cook food that wouldn't poison him, and Ritsuko Akagi, who visited often before Asuka came, insisted that it be Shinji's turn to cook when she came over. 

His German girlfriend could handle cooking instant food, a few simple German dishes, as well as a couple of American ones. It wasn't what anyone would call perfect or restaurant material, but it wouldn't kill any who consumed it.

What he was making now was nothing special, just the typical Miso soup, toast, and fresh fish for his Penguin friend who would emerge from his fridge shortly. For their lunches he had prepared something that was a little more tasty than usual, he had decided on some Sautéed Chicken with a side of fried rice, good for a hot or cold meal.

"Morning Shinji," Misato chirped happily as she strolled into the kitchen, satisfied that she had completed her morning ritual. She was now dressed in her black dress and that red jacket she always liked wearing along with her military hat to complete the outfit. The raven haired woman sat down at the table and smiled when Shinji handed her a bowl of soup and a plate of toast, "so who was it last night?"

Shinji looked at Misato with confusion, "Who? What?"

Misato waited until she had swallowed the piece of toast she was chewing before answering, "Who had the nightmare? Asuka was in your bed so, was it you or her that had the nightmare?"

"Umm…Asuka," the brown haired boy turned around as he concealed a slight blush. He opted to continue stirring the soup on the stove. 

Misato smiled at the boy devilishly and switched into teasing mode, remembering what Asuka had told her and Ritsuko the day before. "So Shinji, what do you think your girlfriend will say about you sleeping in the same bed as another woman?"

There was a splash as Shinji promptly dropped the spoon into the pot of soup, "h-how did you know I had a girlfriend?"

"Asuka told me," Misato giggled to herself knowing she had the boy cornered, "so what would she think?"

"She's…she's okay with it," he stammered while trying to retrieve the spoon without scalding his fingers. 

Asuka chose that moment to make her entrance and sit down at the table, "Morning, what are you two going on about?" 

"Shinji's girlfriend."

"Oh, Shinji's girlfriend."

"Yup, so Shinji, who is she?" Misato leaned forward and gave him that crafty grin that she always held when finding out personal info.

"Yeah Shinji, WHO is she?" Asuka inquired also leaning forward slightly, wanting to see what he would do. 

The brown haired Eva pilot turned around to see Misato with her teasing grin on and Asuka with the biggest smirk he had seen. He shook his head and sighed loudly.

"Wait!" Misato shouted holding her hands up, "let me guess, is it…a girl from school?"

Shinji just nodded, after all Asuka _did_ go to his school.

"Is she beautiful?"

"Exquisite," Shinji answered glancing slightly at Asuka, who in return turned a nice shade of scarlet.

"Do I know her?"

Shinji nodded.

"Is it…Rei?" Misato asked with a sly smirk, "I bet it is Rei. I knew you had a thing for her the moment you…" 

"WONDERGIRL!!!! No way in hell!" Asuka yelled as she stood up from her seat and slammed her fist into the table.

"Why couldn't it be Rei?" the playful roommate queried a little shocked from the sudden outburst.

"There's no way I'd let her dig her filthy claws into Shinji," she stormed around the table and up to Shinji who had also cowered a little from her shouting. Asuka turned to Misato who still looked a little confused, "AND this is WHY!" With that the redhead grabbed Shinji by the collar with both hands and drew him into a deep passionate kiss. 

Shinji was a little stunned at first but soon relaxed and kissed her back. His arm found its way around her waist while his other hand came up to cup her face. They stayed like that for at least two minutes just kissing each other and embracing gently, not wanting the moment to end, but like all good things it did end. When it did the two teens were both short on breath and needed a few seconds to recover. 

Once the two drew their eyes off of the other they were greeted by the sight of a fully-grown woman passed out on the floor, with her mouth hanging wide open. 

"Bad idea?" Asuka looked back at Shinji and they both stared at each other. 

Shinji just nodded and rested his forehead against hers, "Not the best way to tell her, but, better than not I suppose." 

"Are you sure? Because you do know that she'll be watching us all the time now," Asuka sighed and closed her eyes. "We'll never be alone, and I won't be allowed to sleep in your room."

Shinji smirked slightly, "What she doesn't know…" 

Asuka completed the sentence, "Won't hurt her."

"You got it," Shinji smiled again more widely, "that kiss was incredible you know."

"Well if you are nice and say please I'll be happy to repeat it."

****

Rei Ayanami awoke to the very same solitude that she had fallen to sleep with, no sound but the constant echo of silence. She sighed loudly and arose from her small metallic bed. She often wondered what it would be like to wake and hear sounds other than ones own breathing or heartbeat; to hear people living life in the many ways that the human race did. She wondered what it would be like for Ikari, to wake up and hear another person making breakfast or bathing in the room across from his.

The tranquil girl made her way across the cold hard floor, not minding that she was naked, or that her feet were cold from the touch of the tiles beneath. Her mind was a whirl of thoughts; she had spent so much time contemplating just what the meaning of her life was. Her life. Not the one of the Rei before her, or the one who could replace her, but hers. 

She knew her purpose in life: to defeat the angels, to save the human race by becoming one with all. That was her purpose, but what was her meaning. Why did she exist, if not to be the carrier of mankind's salvation, then what? If this task were not required, then would she also not be needed? Would she exist if such a threat didn't? 

_"Why do you fight?"_

_"Because I am bonded."_

_"To Eva?"_

_"To all humans."_

_"You're very strong Rei."_

'Is this what it is to be strong? To take orders willingly without a sense of fear or pain or loss of life? Or is strength the ability to fight for something right?'

Rei cleared her head of thoughts and began dressing herself in her school uniform. After she had finished dressing in the typical school uniform she stopped and stared at the small mirror in front of her. 

"I can be replaced as easily as I see myself here."

_"Yes, your body can be replaced as easily as the last, but what is held in your heart can never be taken from you. Your soul carries with it the ability to do great harm, or great good. It is how you use the power that makes you what you are."_

"Who are you? You speak to me as if you were here." 

_"I am like you. We were once one and will again be the same."_  

"There is only one me. I am…myself."

_"Yes."_

****

"Shinji has got to be joking!"

 Toji Suzuhara, self-proclaimed lord of the running track, designated stooge number one. The black haired jock was sitting, leaning back, in his chair at the same desk he had sat at since the start of the year. He had seen many come and go in this school yet his, Kensukes and Hikaris seats were the only to remain the same. 

The class had once again been dropped to a minimal number; people who lived in the city took time off frequently to attend funerals for those that died in Angel attacks or to visit friends or family members who were injured. Though the 8th Angel wasn't anywhere near the city there were still casualties, financial casualties. An A-17 order was not just an order to attack an Angel. It also brought the bustling business of Tokyo-III and the potential profits that followed to a standstill. 

"No, I don't think he is," Kensuke Aida, self proclaimed Intelligence Expert, designated stooge number two. Kensuke was never to far away from his trusty camcorder or his stooge buddy Toji. They both sat in the back row on the far side of the classroom next to the windows. The two would spend their mornings just talking to each other about trivial things: what they did on the weekend, what new Anime was out, how the last Angel battle went. This morning's discussion was a little more complicated as it concerned on of their own. 

"Seriously man, Shinji isn't thinking straight," Toji waved his hand at his friend. He had been spending the better part of the morning trying to convince the spectacled boy that Shinji was…loopy. "I tell ya he has been in the Eva too many times and it's fried his brain or somethin," he sighed and shook his head, "like I told him, I know he and that…devil have history but…she's a BITCH!"

"Mega bitch I think is the correct term Toji," Kensuke corrected adjusting his glasses "I'm with you there pal, but Shinji is his own man. He obviously likes her a lot otherwise he wouldn't have said anything to us."

"What ya mean by that?"

"I mean he could have not told us and just went out with Asuka behind our backs."

"So!!"

"So, that means that she means so much that he doesn't want to have to sneak around about it. He wants us to be happy for him."

"I'll be happy when she dies in an Angel battle, or when Rei comes and snatches Shinji away from her." Toji crossed both his arms over his chest and leaned his head back, "She's a bitch and she's completely wrong for Shinji, he should be going out with someone like Rei…or that girl from the next class, you know the one with the cute ass."

"You mean Myoki Katsumi, yeah she does seem more like Shinji's type. She's quiet, smart, fun to be around and she has a great body to boot," Kensuke grinned as Toji began to smile triumphantly, "BUT she hasn't been through what Ikari has, doesn't know the horrors he's seen, and she doesn't love him."

"ARGH, you are gonna fight me all the way aren't you?" the all-star jock leaned forward and landed the front two legs of the seat onto the floor. "Kensuke I don't like her and I know that she will hurt my best buddy. I don't want that. Do you?"

Kensuke thought for a moment then sighed loudly, "It would hurt him more if his friends betrayed his trust. Don't do anything Toji or you'll be the one to hurt him."

"We'll see."

****

Doctor Akagi wasn't usually one to pry into other people's personal lives, but when Misato Katsuragi found out a certain piece of information she just had to know what it was. The time was approaching nine o'clock in the morning and the good doctor had been at NERV since four AM, the previous day, conducting routine Magi scans. She was just about to leave to get a little rest when Misato rang her and told her they were to meet in a bar around the corner for a drink and a 'chat'.

Ritsuko entered the small establishment that was just a block away from the Matsu street entrance to NERV HQ. It was a simple bar that the two friends had used many times for 'lunch breaks' and such. Misato, as one would expect, became the bars best customer within the first few visits. 

A quick survey of the room and the blond haired woman located her best friend and comrade. She was sitting on a bar stool at the bar slugging back what looked to be an expensive German beer, 'must be really bad news.'

"Don't you think it's a bit early to get plastered Misato?" Ritsuko inquired as she pulled up a stool next to her pal.

The progressively tipsy operations director looked up from her half consumed beer to see the scientific head of E-project, "you know me Ritsu I have no… hic…shame." Misato looked over to the bar tender, a pudgy little fellow with brown hair, "she'll have a scotch on the rocks."

Ritsuko glared at the violet haired woman "that's a little presumptuous Misato. How do you know that I want that? I might want a beer." Doctor Akagi hated one thing in this world, people who thought she was 'Predictable.' 

"Oh yeah…then what do you want Ritsu?" Misato asked in her sly teasing voice that was usually reserved for Shinji.

"Well…uh…" Ritsuko glanced at Misato then over to the bartender then back to Misato, "ARGH, scotch on the rocks, make it a double." She turned to her suddenly puffed chest companion, "happy?"

Misato just nodded twice then gulped down the remainder of her drink. She hadn't had many yet, though add the four she had just then and the seven or eight she had before coming then you get one slightly drunk woman. "So why were you…still at NERV?"

"Oh, just some routine Magi checks, nothing serious" the blond answered tiredly, rubbing her eyes as the bartender approached. The pudgy man set a glass of scotch with ice in it and a bottle in front of Ritsuko, "so Misato, what did you call me down here for? Something interesting I hope?"

The violet haired woman composed herself while she waited for the bartender to move away, she let out a deep breath and began "Well, you remember…the other day when Asuka said something about Shinji…having a girlfriend?"

Ritsuko nodded and smiled slightly, 'ah ha so the mystery has been solved! Wonder who it is…could be Rei, most likely IS Rei.' The blond was a little worried that it was Rei, there was no way the commander would let such an 'attachment' deviate her from her purpose. "It's Rei isn't it?" she asked a little concern and anxiety in her voice.

Misato took one look at her long time friend and shook her head, "Nope and I wouldn't let Asuka here you say that if I were you." 

"Oh and why not?" Ritsuko asked a little relieved that it was not the blue haired enigma known as Rei Ayanami but also a little shocked at the same time. 

"Because she hates Rei", Misato chuckled lightly, "Asuka would rather die than let Shinji go out with her, you can bet on that."

Ritsuko scratched her chin for a second, her mind trying to guess the mystery girlfriend, "so Asuka has to like who Shinji dates, therefore it's someone Asuka likes?"

"Yep you got that right…Asuka LOVES this girl," Misato said with a crafty smirk.

"Well that's a first I'd think that Asuka would HATE any girl who dated her best friend, so…hmm…" the deducing scientist thought some more. It was not Rei; it was someone that Shinji would have feelings for, someone that Asuka would approve of. "Ah ha, I think I got it! Is it that girl that Asuka knows from school, you know that Horaki girl?"

"Nope," the cloak and dagger operations director was enjoying teasing her friend, making the best out of a dismal situation was always a little fun. "I'll give you a hint…she's from another country."

"Oh great that helps," Ritsuko remarked sarcastically, "Do you know how many transfer students are in Shinji's year level? Or…don't tell me he's dating someone younger than him! Or older for that matter!" 

The blond sighed as Misato shook her head and started chuckling again, "Oh god, I give up why don't you just TELL ME!!"

"HAHA! the GREAT Ritsuko Akagi can master Bio-Mechanics and super AI computers but can't figure out who Shinji is dating!" the violet haired woman was closing in on hysteria; her laugh was only subdued by the urge to actually be allowed back to the bar. "Okay…Okay. I'll tell you. Asuka likes this girl because…she is Asuka. Asuka is Shinji's girlfriend."

Ritsuko looked at her friend as if she had just told the most pathetic joke in the world, "You must be drunk Misato cause you just said that the Second and Third children were dating."

Misato stopped chuckling and turned serious, "I did, and they are."

"WHAT?! You're kidding me! Shinji and…her! Oh god," the blond took a quick moment to roll her tongue up, pull her jaw off the floor, and clamp it shut. This news was more than shocking it was pure heart failure material, "Shinji, Asuka, s-since when? How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know, almost a week I think. I can't be sure," Misato turned to face her friend on the stool, "what am I to do Ritsu? I don't know what I can do about this. I can't break them up but I can't really allow this. I mean if it interferes with their piloting I'll be the one to cop it from Commander Ikari. Also they live together, and you know what two dating teens living together is like."

"This is a tough one," Ritsuko considered, taking a swig of her previously untouched scotch, "maybe you can allow it. We can ask the commander and see what he says?" She suggested before placing her glass back down and pouring another from the bottle.

"You think so? But is it a good idea?"

"Well…yeah. Shinji has been much happier the last week and he's improving in piloting skills and synch rates." Ritsuko could see the benefits in this relationship and felt that it would be a good idea to let them continue it, with the Commanders permission of course. 

"So as long as he keeps his scores and piloting skills up they should be allowed to go out?" Misato sighed as her friend nodded, she didn't completely approve of the relationship on two accounts. The first was that the two lived together. This would create tension if they argued, which was inevitable. And the second was that she didn't want either of them hurt. One would eventually break the others heart and she was afraid it would be Shinji's that was broken.

"Correct, I'm sure the commander will agree I'll take care of that half you can just tell the children."

"Hold on why are you okay with this? Is it because Shinji has a higher synch ratio?" Misato questioned pointing her finger menacingly at Ritsuko.

"No Misato, you may think that's all I care about but…Shinji is a good boy, he's been through a lot. I just want him to be happy for a while and so should you." The blond stood up a little shakily due to a lack of sleep, "now if you'll excuse me I'm off to bed for a few hours. Just watch over them and help them when they need it and everything will be fine."

Misato sighed loudly as her friend of many years left the building and headed for home, "I hope so, for both their sakes."

****

     Rei Ayanami walked calmly into the classroom as she had done every morning since she started attending school in the seventh grade. One of her more desirable traits was the ability to arrive exactly on time for everything. If someone said they were having a party around seven Rei would arrive at seven not a second early or late, exactly on seven (not that she was invited to parties, it's just an example). 

The class wasn't very large considering the size of the city they lived in. There were only four and a half rows, each with five or so single seat desks. The blue haired girl had noted the student body declining as the Angel attacks became more frequent and dangerous.

As usual she moved through the chairs and desks to the far window overlooking the grass field and a large Sakura tree. She enjoyed looking out over the field of green with the occasional spot of white from small flowers that had managed to escape the grounds keepers' lawnmower blades. The view was that of pure tranquillity in the morning, however once the students arrived for their various track events it became clustered and noisy.

The silent pilot sat in her seat, placed her elbows on the desk, and then rested her head in her hands, set to face the view of course. She admired nature; it was something that she fought for. Though her main reason would always remain she had found other things to fight for. 

Something he had taught her, something he had shown her when they were first paired together. He had enlightened her mind to more than one thing and one thing alone. "Ikari," the soft whisper barley audible escaped her lips; if anyone else were actually looking they would have seen a once in a million show. She smiled a soft, simple smile that could be topped by no other.

"Hey Ayanami," Rei's smile dropped and was replaced by the same lifeless façade she had always carried. She inclined her head to see who had summoned her and for what reason. She did not actually know anyone apart from Shinji and Asuka, but they were not there. 

A second later and the blue hired girl traced the voice to its owner, Toji Suzuhara. "Yes mister Suzuhara?" Her voice was monotonous and she wore a blank expression on her face.

Toji came up from his spot in the back of the classroom and set himself down on a desk next to the First Child's, "So what's up Ayanami?"

Rei regarded the track-suited boy for a minute before coming to the most logical conclusion, "the sky. Is that all you wish to talk about?"

The jock was shocked and confused, 'Gee I knew she was thick but not THIS thick.'

He scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Listen I wanna talk to ya about Shinji, it's rather important."

"If it is about Ikari, I will listen" the girl of logic answered. Her interest immediately perked up, "What is it about Ikari you wish to discuss?"

"Ya, well ya see Shinji is sorta going out with the Devil…uh I mean Asuka," Toji stammered trying to remember he wasn't talking to one of his friends and that Ayanami wouldn't refer to her as 'The Devil.' 

Rei looked forward towards the board and answered, her lips twitching into a slight frown, "Yes, I am aware of the Seconds advancements on Ikari."

"Well it's not just her, he's doing it too. Anyway I don't like it, I don't agree with Shinji on this one and I think he's with the wrong girl. He's too good for that bitch and I don't want to see him hurt when she finally gets bored with him."

"Pilot Soryu and pilot Ikari have been together before, am I not correct?" Rei asked still staring straight ahead not looking at anything in particular.

Toji scratched his head and thought for a moment, "That's different they were only friends back then, now…"

"I see…" the subtle girl finally shifted her head to take in the boy that sat next to her, "How does this concern me?"

"Well," the jock started, placing his hand under his chin to make him look 'intelligent', "I would like you to talk some sense into him. He's gone whacko and needs someone calm and intelligent like you to bring him back from the loony bin."

"I am unaware that Ikari has been admitted to a psychiatric facility," Rei frowned at Toji.

The black haired jock slapped his forehead with the palms of his hands, "He's not, I mean that was a…you know…uh…whatcha-ma-call-it…uh…FIGURE OF SPEECH."

"I see," The blue haired Eva pilot said still frowning at the boy in front of her, "so you wish for me to talk to Ikari and tell him that he should discontinue his relationship with the second?"

"Yes, either that or talk to the devil yourself, I mean Sorhyu," Toji once again hit himself for the slip up. After all Shinji had asked him to be 'nicer' to the Redheaded Devil, not to mention Rei only knew her as pilot Sorhyu or Asuka. 

Rei studied the boy for a moment she found her answer in his eyes, "Yes, I will help you." Toji smiled at her nodded, stood and walked off. Rei remained staring at the spot the jock had left vacant, a voice came to her it was familiar. 

_"Why did you agree to help him?"_

"Because he wishes to help Ikari, I saw it in his eyes."

_"What did you see?"_

"Concern for Ikari, for his happiness."

_"Are you sure this will lead him to happiness?"_

"I don't know."

_"Perhaps it will lead YOU to happiness?"_

****

The students of class 2-A would have killed for an Angel to attack at this point of time. They were completely unaware of the true concept of the word boring up until now. The Sensei had of course chosen to review his 'life story,' well not really. It was more like a class on Second Impact that trailed off into what the old guy was doing before and after it. 

Their Sensei was a short man, he looked old and the wrinkles on his face could each tell their own story. He had slightly grey hair and a beard that covered half of his chin and jaw bone. 

Since moving to Tokyo-3 Asuka had pretty much memorized how everyone in the class looked, she was constantly bored with what everyone else was learning. She had heard it all before, Math, Basic Physics, Literature and especially Second Impact. The only thing that was different was that she knew the truth behind Second Impact. The fact that it was really an Angel, known only as Adam, that selfdestructed and melted the continent of Antarctica, not a meteor. 

No one would ever know though, the truth had been carefully covered up by NERV and the U.N. The only reason Asuka knew was that she could be trusted and had to know because of her pilot status. The girl sighed and lowered her head onto her desk it would be hours before school ended, or at least a half hour until lunch. 

Asuka smiled as she lifted her head to glance at Shinji Ikari from across the room. Today he sat with his two friends Toji and Kensuke, mostly out of guilt for neglecting them the other day. The three sat in the corner quietly chatting their voices too low for her or the Sensei to hear. Her smile faded as Toji glanced her way and gave her the stooge equivalent of her look of death. She was unimpressed and just shot daggers at him with a glare of her own.

A soft beeping sound drew the redhead's attention to the laptop computer on her desk, she opened it up and a message appeared. She pressed the accept button and read the screen carefully.

SORHYU, PLEASE ACOMPANY ME TO THE CAFETERIA AT LUNCH FOR A 'CHAT'

              -AYANAMI-

"Wondergirl!?" Asuka slapped her hand over her mouth as she said that a bit too loudly and drew the attention of a few students. They looked at her for a moment until she glared at them with the 'look of death' then they all promptly spun around to the front.

"What the hell does Wondergirl want?" she asked herself making sure to keep it at a whisper so know one would hear. Asuka knew there was only one way to find out, well there were other ways but it would be just easier to ask. She began typing and soon her message was ready to send, with a quick glance she noted its perfect spelling and grammar and pressed send.

Rei was totally unused to using the computer network system that the school utilized, so when a beep indicated a message she almost fell out of her chair. Recovering quickly and without drawing any attention she clicked on the message to open it. 

WHAT DO YOU WANT WONDERGIRL? I HAVE PLANS WITH SHINJI AND HIKARI.

                  -SORHYU-

The blue haired Eva pilot frowned at her computer screen as If it were the Second Child itself. Her eyes flew over the message twice more before she began to write a reply, a second later it was sent.

Asuka received another message and she opened it, curious to see what had caused the 'Ice Queen' to want to talk to her. 

IT IS IKARI I WISH TO DISCUSS WITH YOU, PILOT SORHYU. PLEASE MEET WITH ME AT LUNCH.

                    -AYANAMI-   

The carbon copy reply confused the redhead even more. Why would Rei want to talk to her about Shinji? She sent her reply of a simple okay, but she had an uneasy feeling that refused to dissipate, not even when the bell finally rang and the masses began their exodus.

Asuka stood and turned to Shinji who was approaching from the back of the room; she smiled sweetly at the boy then scowled at the two stooges that followed. "Hey Shinji, I forgot I have some things to take care of. Do you wanna eat with your…" the redhead trailed off as she gave a quick look at the two, "FRIENDS?"

The brown haired boy gave her a confused look then glanced back at his two buddies, "actually I was going to ask if you minded me spending lunch with the guys."

"Hmmm…were you really?" Asuka said with a sarcastic smirk, "oh well if you'd wanna spend time with them instead of me…I suppose I'll allow it this one time. BUT, remember you are mine for the rest of the week."

"Ahhh…" Shinji grimaced a little as his redheaded girlfriend gave him a scowl that told him there was no way out of it. "Well, you see…ah…its Toji's birthday on Saturday, and well, I'm going to stay at his place tonight. Then we're all going to the beach tomorrow."

Asuka turned from Shinji and glared at the two stooges, mainly the Jock and self proclaimed track god. "Shinji, what happens if an Angel attacks, hmm? Did you ask Misato about this?"

"I just called her; she said it's ok as long as I keep my cell-phone on me," Shinji replied with a forced smile.

"I thought you couldn't swim?"

"I can't but what's to stop me from GOING and having a bit of fun?" Shinji shrugged still forcing a smile as he convinced the redhead to let him go. Asuka was not impressed, she wouldn't see him tonight, and then tomorrow either. She opened her mouth to start more protesting but was cut off by another voice.

"Toji!" the attention of the group collectively turned to the new admittance to the conversation. Behind them the unmistakable brown hair and pigtails of Hikari Horaki were noticed, she approached and smiled sweetly. 

Toji flushed a bright red as the girl looked directly at him with a smile that could melt butter. Hikari herself turned a slightly crimson as she spoke, "I…I got your message during class, I'd love to come to your party."

The black haired jock stopped blushing and looked confusedly at the girl, "Sorry did you just say ya got a message from me?"

Hikari looked at him suspiciously and then smiled, "Yes I did, and I will come tomorrow so I'll meet you at 10:00, so don't be late." With that the shy class rep turned, nodded a quick hello to Asuka then walked off to punish some line jumpers at the cafeteria. 

Toji just stared on with confusion, he hadn't sent any messages, and the only ones that knew about his birthday were Shinji and Kensuke. Toji being head stooge failed to put two and two together to get four. The other stooges in question shared a knowing smile.

Asuka no longer the centre of attention decided to clear her throat loudly, as the boys shifted their glances back to the redhead she rested both hands on her hip and arched an eyebrow. "So you invited HIKARI but not ME?! I thought I would be first considering who I AM, not only am I the BEST Eva pilot but I'm also your friends GIRLFRIEND!!"

All three males stepped back at Asukas outburst, she had yelled loud enough for the entire student population who hadn't left the room to cringe. Toji was the first to recover, "It's MY birthday and I will invite WHO I want, not someone who makes my skin crawl!!"

Unit-02s pilots eyes widened for a second then drew down into dangerous slits, her lips curled slightly into a frown and her eyebrows began to twitch. Shinji finally recovered from the shock of his girlfriends' actions, he had known her for years and knew she had a temper but he had never seen it. 

He stepped forward carefully and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Asuka, calm down, please."

The touch of his hand was enough to subdue the girls rising anger, her eyes stopped twitching and her frown disappeared, though she didn't smile either. Her glance inched away from the stooge and she found herself staring into Shinjis blue orbs. 

Immediately Asukas eyes softened and she forced a smile to her face, "Okay, I'm fine." At that instant the redhead remembered why she had come to tell Shinji, and that Wondergirl was waiting somewhere. She turned her head and found the blue haired girl sitting in her chair observing them with the same emotionless face as always. 

"Shinji I have to go and talk to…someone so go have lunch okay? I want to see you before you go to…" she pointed to Toji with a disgusted facial expression "…his house though."

"Ok, remember we have Doctor Akagi's experiment tonight, so I'll see you then ok?" Shinji smiled at the redhead, this time no longer forced. She returned his smile with her own and walked off calmly to the other side of the room. 

Toji and Kensuke took this moment to tease their friend, "Damn that girlfriend of yours is a real demon!"

Shinji sighed loudly and rubbed his forehead in his palm, "This is going to be a long day."

****

The clear air smelled fresh from the vantage point of the roof. The school grounds were a buzz with activity as students ate their lunches and chatted amongst themselves. Rei Ayanami leaned against the railing and looked over, she watched as a certain group of teenagers made their way to a bench. 

Her lips curled up into the faintest smile as she eyed the three boys who sat and began eating while engaged in the most common of human communications. She had not paid much attention to the way that humans acted around each other, it wasn't important to her. She had wanted to remain in the shadows, until the time had come for her to fulfil her purpose. 

That was before 'he' came.

"So?" The blue haired girl turned her head slowly to eye the Second child. Rei had forgotten that she was there. Asuka stepped up to the railing and leaned her back against it, "so what did you want to talk about?"

Rei looked at the second for a while longer trying to remember herself what she had asked the redhead to come for. She found her answer when she glanced back at the group of three in the courtyard below. She once again looked to Asuka and spoke quietly, "Ikari."

"Yeah I know THAT!!" Asuka shot back sarcastically, she sighed loudly remembering that this WAS Rei Ayanami the First Child, "WHAT is it about Shinji that you want to talk about?"

"You and pilot Ikari are…dating, are you not?" Unit-00s pilot inquired. 

"YES, what's it to you?" was the sharp reply.

"I do not know," Rei said quietly, she had heard the question as 'What is it to you?' Her mind was thrown into a state of chaos unlike any she had ever experienced, what was the significance of this girl dating Shinji? "I have been informed that certain parties are unhappy with this…situation," the girl finally answered, avoiding the previous question. 

Asuka glared at the first Child indignantly at the comment; of course she knew that there were some who didn't approve of her. "Yeah so what?!" she remarked angrily "Is there a point to this or am I wasting my time?"

"I…think that I am also unhappy, I think…" the girl stopped and tried to interpret her thoughts and feelings into words that would be appropriate. She looked over the Second Child who had now left the railing and was glaring at her with a clenched fist, "I…like Ikari, and I do not wish to see him…hurt."

"WHAT?!" Asuka's fist clenched down even more almost digging her nails into her own palm. The redhead scowled at the girl that was standing in front of her who just told her that she liked her boyfriend. Asuka saw a number of images flash through her mind, mainly involving her, Rei, and a forty-four calibre sawed-off shotgun, or at least a baseball bat, preferably a metal one. 

"YOU WHAT?!!!" The redheads' eyes had narrowed and almost turned blood red in rage. After all what is she to do when another girl claims that she likes her Shinji, possibly in that special way? The answer was clear to Asuka, she could see it in Reis eyes she knew that it wasn't just like it was LIKE! The thing that scared her most was that she knew Shinji liked the First Child back, in his own way.

"I like Ikari," Rei repeated calmly, seriously unaware of how close she was to dismemberment or at least a brutal bashing that would leave her in hospital for months. "I do not wish to see him hurt, I'm sure that you do not either?"

The redhead snapped back, "Of course I don't!! But how would he be hurt anyway?" Asuka took a moment before she came to the answer of her own question. The answer was her. This blue haired bitch was telling Asuka that she would hurt Shinji. Of all the people she would be the one to hurt him. Her fist clenched even more, if possible "Are you implying that I'm going to hurt Shinji?"

"Possibly, perhaps he will hurt himself, but it would be logical to assume that your relationship with Ikari will not last." Rei analysed the situation, thinking out the best way for her to achieve her goal, but what was her goal? Was it to protect the Third Child from emotional harm, or was it something more personal to her?

"WHY THE HELL NOT?!!!"

"Ikari is soft, kind…he gives without thought of return. He is quiet and fragile. You are loud, arrogant and from what I have herd of others you are Lucifer's daughter." The blue haired pilot stared back down at the table in which the Third Child and his friends ate. She then turned back to the Second, "If you truly care for Ikari you will let him be, it is better to live in loneliness than to live with the pain of a broken heart."

Asuka watched, barely able to move, as the First Child walked off calmly towards the rooftop door. Her anger was beginning to elevate into overdrive. She looked over to the door and then over the railing to the ground below. She saw him sitting there; she knew know what Ayanami kept looking at. 

At that moment her anger subsided, because she knew the truth, Wondergirl was jealous, and she was trying to break them up. The redhead moved away from the railing as the bell rang signalling the return to class. She walked back to class all while thinking of how Rei would look without a head, though she could not get one thing she had said out of her mind, 'it is better to live in loneliness than live with the pain of a broken heart.'

Would it be like that? Would she hurt the one person who she cared about? Or did the words apply to her?

Only time would tell…

Suddenly, the power went out…and Tokyo-3 stood still.

A/N: Okay another chap, a BIG chapter, thanks to Autophage ^_^, done. Well this was nice and big cause I wanted to show Misatos reaction to the new relationship between Asuka and Shinji. Also I wanted to start up with the Rei/Asuka rivalry, and also delve into Reis feelings towards the young Ikari. 

Big thanx to Autophage who keeps my vocabulary to a good standard and to Eva_pilot23 for his pre-readin and also yet another welcome to orangetastesgood, don't know his ff.net name that might be it ^_^

Next chap, we have a showdown with the ninth Angel HAHAHAHAHA YES MORE ACTION!!!! ^_^ Look out, NERV has no power thanks to a team of commandos, so where do the Evas stand, it will be up to Rei, Shinji, and Asuka to negotiate the deep underbelly of the Geo-front and work out their own…personal differences? See what I'm going on about in the next chap: I hate spiders!

Oh and to Shinji The good Sharer, if u want me to be a pre-reader for your fic "A gift with Blue hair" than I need an email address for u, I'd like to do it I love pre-readin for people but I kinda need an email address to talk to u personally! So if ya drop me an email then we'll talk cookies ^_^

Also to those who have put reviews/emailed me to hurry up and post this chap I have but one thing to say: ahem……DON'T RUSH GENIUS!!!!! If I rush then u get a crappy job so DON'T RUSH ME!!!!!! There I said it, and u can blame a goverment institute called SCHOOL for the lateness of this chapter -_- damn school.

Seya on d other side………………….       


	13. I hate spiders!

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies

Chapter 13: I hate Spiders

Deep beneath the fortress city of Tokyo-3, amongst the pipes and cables of the world's most advanced city, shadows lingered in the dark. Moving quickly and silently the four figures swept through the access panels and into the very depths of the government installation of NERV. 

Taking care not to trip the laser sensors that bounced across the hallways, the figures moved along leaving nothing but the faint splash of water beneath their feet. The tunnels were small and getting tighter, their ceilings were lined with electrical cables that had enough electricity coursing through them to power the world for months. The walls were laced with moldy residue from where pipes had burst and leaked their coolant liquids. 

Darkness reigned in this place. There was no light, save for the faint glow of the ominous red beams that guarded the still hallway. The figures reflected the behavior of their location, evidence of the night camouflage, their heads masked and hooded. Despite the low visibility the four moved swiftly and skillfully around the defenses, keeping in mind their ultimate goal. 

They moved quietly until the walls began to enlarge and the ceiling grew higher. Clearly, they had entered a large room. There was light provided by a few wall lamps and the dim green glow of the machinery that resided there. The four men moved around the room in formation, one moving ahead, pausing then signaling for the next to move up. 

Only now their semi automatic machine guns, MP5 models, were revealed. With their sweep completed and the room secured they proceeded to remove items from around their waists and small unnoticeable backpacks. Three of the men moved out and secured the entrance to the room while the one remaining gathered the items that were left on the ground for him. 

"Keep it locked down," the item clad form said quietly, yet with a stern and commanding voice. He placed a hand over his left shoulder and squeezed the tiny communications device, "Bravo team are you in position?"

There was a crackle and a buzz then a fuzzy voice from over the receiver, "Bravo team in position, awaiting your command."

"Roger that, stand by," there was a certain amount of relief in the man's smooth voice. He flicked the switch again "Delta team status report?"

"Delta here, all clear."

"Roger, ETA, one minute," the operative removed his hands from the device and pulled out a small pair of wire cutters. He stepped up to a machine in the corner of the room and began to snip wires, one by one the lights in the room began to fail. It wasn't long until the intruders' surroundings were plunged once again into darkness, "all teams, engage."

With the order given the three emergency backup systems were unable to cut in, due to 'Technical' difficulties. The man smiled and pulled his goggles up to reveal his face in the faintly lit chamber. He grinned and ran a finger along the stubble on his chin and whispered to himself, "So it begins."

****

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi moved through the crowds of people that had accumulated in the subway station, the result of rush hour. She was now in a hurry. Her alarm had gone off an hour late so she overslept which meant she would be late for her Synch tests with the children.

After chatting with the slightly drunk – okay, completely smashed - Misato Katsuragi, she had returned home for some sleep. Though she only slept for a half the day, the good doctor was now ready to put in another 32 hours at NERV HQ. She was for lack of a better word, buzzed. The commander had finally agreed to allow the testing of nanotechnology that would be integrated into the LCL.

Using this newly discovered technology the E-Project could achieve staggering benefits. The nano-machines inside the LCL would enable the pilots to recover from blows better during battle, making for a quick response to an attack. Also the 'nanites' would prove crucial to the regeneration of the Evangelion's tissues and organs that could become severed in battle. 

Nothing excited Ritsuko more than to test out newly developed, highly experimental technology. It was tested and proven safe for use on humans and on Evas, the designers were unable to complete a field test due to the fact that they didn't have a working Evangelion or pilots for that matter, but only a prototype husk.

There was a sudden outburst of cursing; groans and mumbling as the stations occupants reviewed the departure board. The blond scientist looked suspiciously at the board as the LED lights began to fade one after another. The backlighting also flickered and died.  

In mere seconds the lights in the subway failed and the man made cavern was plunged into darkness. There were no lights running even the sounds of approaching trains had ceased. Ritsuko fumbled through her lab coat pocket. Being the cautious worry wart, she always had a flashlight somewhere. She could hear the worried gasps and blind tumbling around as people tried to find a way out or a light that still worked. 

Ritsuko gripped her back pocket and smiled mischievously to herself as her hand drew out her prize. The small gold plated flashlight was a birthday gift from her protégé, the tech bunny known as Maya Ibuki. She flicked the switch and immediately jumped out of shock when someone was about to collide with her. 

Two more beams of light sprang forth as three of the railway staff made their presence known. One of the men stood on the steps that led to the outside world and called for quiet, "Please everyone! Remain calm. We are currently experiencing some power difficulties. We assure you that the problem is only temporary as the backup generators will be on in a few moments."

Ritsuko looked at the small pudgy man with a frown, "the backups should have kicked in already, something is wrong." Noting an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach the head of Project-E started her way through the mass of humanity towards the exit. 

As she neared the stairs a hand lightly touched her shoulder followed by an unfamiliar voice, "Excuse me miss, you'll have to wait a minute until things are sorted out." 

Ritsuko turned to see one of the men with the flashlights. She aimed her light in the man's face and growled, "Out of my way I'm with NERV!" The man seemed to grimace as he removed his hand from the doctor's shoulder and stood aside leaving her a clear path out. 

The completely aggravated, slightly tipsy, and most defiantly cranky woman exited the subway station know one thing. 

There was something wrong in the city of Tokyo-3.

****

Shinji Ikari walked calmly down the streets of the city which he had come to call his home. With Asuka Langley Soryu, his girlfriend beside him, and the other whom he hoped was his friend, Rei Ayanami in tow. He had been living there for quite a while now and the city had been good to him. So far, he wasn't dead, and that was well enough for him.

The young Ikari closed his eyes and breathed in a mouthful of natures good half clean air, taking it in like he wouldn't get another chance for hours. Dr Akagi could find ways to keep the children cooped up in entry plugs for hours and hours at any time. Who knows when he would finally get to his friends house, or if he would even go for the night. If it became too late he would ring in and tell Toji that he would meet them at the beach. Hopefully he wouldn't have to. 

He glanced over at Asuka who was walking right along side him; barley an inch separated them, which said a lot about her mood at the moment. She wore a mask of mixed emotions. There were elements of anger, fear, concern and contemplation. 

Shinji hadn't spoken as not to disturb her thoughts. He guessed that she was too preoccupied with something important to speak. Hoping to break the uneasy silence Shinji turned his head a little and spoke, "Hey, Ayanami."

Rei was brought out of her own private musings by the sound of her name being called. "Yes Ikari?" she replied in her flat tone.

"Ah…did you happen to take some notes during math?" Shinji mentally patted himself on the back for the quick save he didn't really have anything to say he just wanted the silence to end. "I…kind of…fell asleep, heh." 

"I…do not," she hesitated, looking away to hide a slight blush. Rei had no idea why it was there, but it most certainly was awkward. Once the redness in her cheeks had dissipated she turned back to the boy who walked in front, "I am not required to take notes."

"Oh." after a moment more of silence Shinji turned to Asuka once again, this time he spoke, "Did you take any notes Asuka?"

"Of course not!" Asuka declared her face had contorted from the earlier one and now bore her usual confident smirk. "I am the GREAT Asuka Langley Soryu; I don't need to take notes due to my high intellect."

The young Ikari cracked a small smile, "In other words you fell asleep too." He soon regretted that as his girlfriend gave him a firm whack over the back of his head, "HEY what was that for?"

"You were implying that I would fall asleep in class," she harrumphed and stuck her nose up, while crossing her arms over her chest. It was true though of course, she had fallen asleep somewhere between getting the words "Algebra" and "Exercise 1" down on her work paper. How was she to stay awake through such a menial task? It was so easy; a monkey with a typewriter could do it.

There was another cold silence as the three companions continued their way to another round of 'Mad Akagi's' tests. It was surprising they hadn't dropped dead from the thought of sitting around in a liquid that smelled funny and made their hair sticky for hours. Any normal teenager would have, but these three weren't normal. 

As the entrance to Central Dogma came into view on the horizon the pilots, like always, began wishing they had stayed in bed but knew it was too late now. They approached the small building that housed the elevators that led into the depths of NERV. 

As usual Rei was the first to swipe her card in the magnetic reader that would soon grant them access, but it didn't. The usually monotone girl looked down at the electronic device and frowned. Once again she swiped her card through…nothing, no confirming beep, no mechanical cogs or parts moving and no door opening. 

"What's wrong Ayanami?" Shinji asked, stepping up behind the confused first child "Is there a problem?"

"My…card, it is malfunctioning" Rei answered, keeping her eyes fixed on the red card she held in her palm. The corners were still well rounded, the magnetic strip still unscratched; she had not used it to open locks like she had seen the Second Child do on a few occasions. So why did it not work?

Shinji looked at her card then pulled his own from a small wallet that he carried around with him, "Mind if I try?" Promptly, Rei stepped aside to grant him access. Once clear Shinji pulled his card up and swiped it through, nothing. "HUH?" he swiped again, nothing, then again, and still nothing.

"Oh great!" a certain redhead yelled from behind the two stumped pilots. "Get out of my way, I'll get it working."

Asuka moved up and pulled out her card, 'this will be good.' Her thinking pattern was along the lines of Rei being embarrassed due to not being able to open the door and grinned to herself, but winced a little when she remembered that Shinji couldn't do it either. 

A few swipes of the card later and Shinji and Rei had to deal with a screaming young German girl who was trying to beat the door down with physical strength, "DAMN stupid thing WORK!!"

****

"Bravo, this is Alpha. Pull back to the LZ, I repeat pull back to LZ," the words echoed throughout the cavernous man made tunnels below the earth. The concentrated team of commandos were making their way back along the same path they had taken to get to the objective. It had been ten minutes since Bravo teams' last communication and the man with the stubble was beginning to suspect the worst. 

Acting quickly on a hunch he changed the channel, "Eagles nest, this is Alpha team, do you read?" There was nothing but static from the other end. They were to remain in radio silence for the duration of their mission, but had reached the point where that was no longer a necessary precaution. Was there some deeper meaning to the blaring static that emanated from within his palm? He had no answers, and he didn't pretend to hide that fact. Something felt wrong.

The team ran with great speed, with security measures disabled, they didn't have to worry about the lasers or sensors to alert anyone of their presence. After a while of nothing but the echoes of footsteps the commander slowed down, prompting his comrades to emulate him.

"Sir, what is it?" a softly puffing soldier asked as he hunched over trying vigorously to replenish his lungs with air. His question was unanswered, as the commander with the stubble remained silent. He lifted his arm signaling his men to gather in formation, and they complied. 

"Sergeant," the commander called out in a faint whisper, "was there a hallway up ahead when we came through here earlier?"

"No sir."

"Then how come there is one now?"

Ahead of the group there was a small section of passageway that was lit by a red light of some kind, most likely an emergency backup measure. Beneath the dull illumination was a newly opened doorway that led into a previously unexplored area.

Slowly the team closed in towards the new opening, keeping their guns at the ready in case of any…surprises. The commander held up his hand and opened two fingers then pointed at the door. On cue, two armed soldiers took up positions on opposite sides of the door. They both rolled out and checked the corridor in sweeping fashion. 

Once the all-clear signal was given the commander and Sergeant moved up and began their short journey down the new hall. It was lit by small red lights every five feet and unlike the previous passages this one was kept in good condition, in other words it had no rust or mold. 

It was only a short distance from the junction to the end of the tunnel; it opened up into what looked like a huge replica of Antarctica. It was a giant dome shaped cavern in witch five or six Evas could stand one-another's shoulders and still not touch the ceiling.

The team began sweeping out in different directions while the commander stood there examining the surroundings. Why did this place look like Antarctica? The ground wasn't ice it was sand so why did it look like the former continent?  He walked over the top of a small dune that obscured his view. In that instant his breath left his body and he was frozen with disbelief. 

"Commander," one of the men shouted trying to snap the dazed commander out of his current state. He received no reply so he decided to approach his superior officer and shake him or something. Upon reaching the top of the dune the soldiers' legs froze and he too was entranced by the view. 

"It looks as if NERV…" the previously silent leader began, "has been keeping too many secrets from us."

"What is that thing, Kaji?"

"I don't know…but I'm going to find out."

****

"Why the HELL doesn't anything work?" Asuka was for lack of better words pissed off. The pilots had been sitting in the entrance building for the last fifteen minutes trying any and every door, switch and phone. 

Rei turned towards the Second Child and looked at her quickly. Asuka was at that time trying to see if she could pull one of the airtight security doors open by force. 

"I do not believe that you have sufficient strength to open that door."

"What do you know Wondergirl?" the aggravated girl snapped back, "you never know unless you try." She then returned to 'trying' to force the door open, to no avail of course.

Being stuck with the first child alone was enough to make her skin crawl and her anger rise to a pleasant boiling point. Shinji had gone out to see if he could make contact with NERV, as his cell phone had no reception inside. There were several pay phones around the building but none were functioning, just like the doors. The lights weren't working either. Luckily, the sun was still high. 

Finally giving up, the redhead backed away from the door and kicked it only to recoil in pain and agony. "Oww," she mumbled under her breath while rubbing her now sore right foot. She sat down up against a nearby wall and began thinking idly; she wasted no time in voicing her opinion, "Maybe the powers gone out."

"That would be improbable," Rei answered calmly as she began searching through her school bag for something. Upon pulling a small booklet out, she began to cite a passage, "There are three backup systems. It is impossible for all to cease at once."

"Did I ask you that?" Asuka snapped. Seconds passed, but no response was offered, "No I didn't think so. So shut up Wondergirl, I don't want or need your GREAT input," she looked around for a second, "Hey what's taking Shinji so long?"

"Perhaps Ikari has gotten lost?"

"Hey!" Asuka jumped to her feet ignoring the stinging pain from her right foot, "he's not that stupid you doll! He wouldn't get lost around here, he's been here longer than me and he probably gets around more than you, so shut up."

"I did not imply that Ikari is stupid, I merely stated a possibility."

"Well it's not a possibility, got it?!"

"Yes," Rei turned away from her aggravator and closed her eyelids into slits as she whispered one last comment, "and I'm not a doll."

The Second Child resumed her waiting but this time she sat up against the very door she wished to open. Meanwhile Rei went back to examine the object she had produced from her bag. It was a small laminated card which had the logo of NERV printed on one side and a lot of small writing on the other.

"Asuka, Rei!"

Both girls shifted their eyes to the approaching figure of Shinji Ikari. He was running fast, really fast. Asuka stood up and Rei put her card back into her book bag while Shinji tried to regain his breath.

"You're…not…going…to" he started, his words were slowed by his panting, "You're not going to believe what I just saw…"

"What? What was it Shinji?" the redhead inquired as she placed her hand on the boys shoulder. 

"A giant spider."

"That's it? Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders!"

"Not just any spider…it's an Angel!"

****

**EARLIER******

The residents of Tokyo-2 went about their daily business completely unaware of the events that were about to unfold. People walked noisily down the streets, talking in groups or conversing with others via cellular phone. Stores were either closing up or getting ready for the afternoon rush. Bars opened awaiting their usual after-work patrons.

Swimming pools started admitting swim teams for their routine training sessions, some were even competing. Children of multiple ages made their way home on trains or busses, some just walking enjoying the peaceful sunny day. 

While the usual activities happened on the streets a group of men, inside a military installation, were assembled before a large view screen. The five men's faces were grim as they reviewed the information in front of them. 

"This isn't good," one of the men said pensively.

"Has there been no contact with NERV or Tokyo-3?" another inquired.

"No, we haven't been able to reach them for the last half hour."

"What do we do?" the third began in a half-panic.

"Conventional weapons are no use against it, maybe we should evacuate," the fifth suggested.

"We have no choice. Continue trying to contact NERV, meanwhile begin evacuation."

As the five men turned to return to their posts a young man around 23 ran into the room, "Sir! It's changing course it's headed for Tokyo-3!"

"Hmmm…cancel the Evacuation. We must warn Tokyo-3."

"But how Sir?"

"We fly there ourselves!"

In the city the calm flow of traffic on the streets had become one of hysteria, people had been terrified when things started smashing around them. The citizens ran for their lives as the eight huge legs crashed down into the ground one after the other. Two people jumped in time to escape a spiked leg as it crushed the blue car they had hoped to escape in.

After several minutes of absolute chaos the creature left the limits of Tokyo-2 and headed off towards its ultimate target leaving a trail of smoldering green acid that melted the very ground it touched.

****

"What do you mean an ANGEL?!" Asuka yelled disbelievingly, "that's like two in less than a week! Don't they ever get tired or take a break? I mean we're pilots but we're still human!"

"I don't think they care about that Asuka," Shinji half panted as he was still a little wheezy from his mad dash. "Did you have any luck with the doors? I had none with my cell-phone all lines in are dead."

Rei once again turned her attention back to her book bag she yet again produced that very same card she was inspecting earlier. After closely reading the Emergency Manual again the, she spoke softly, "With an Angel present we will need to make contact with NERV headquarters directly."

"What are you, stupid?" Asuka exclaimed, "The power's obviously out and all the doors are automatic. How the hell are we supposed to open them and reach HQ? Idiot."

"Asuka, you don't have to be so mean to Ayanami, she's just giving a suggestion," Shinji stated calmly. There was something wrong with his girlfriend today she just seemed more venomous towards the First Child. He just assumed it was 'THAT time of the month again' either that or it was something more…complex.

Rei in return to Shinji's defense blushed a little, although only the most masterful of trained eyes could tell. She nodded her head solemnly at Shinji then set out to dispute the Second Childs remarks, "Thank you Ikari. I am not stupid pilot Soryu, I am aware that the doors are fully automated and that a loss of power would be cause for their functions to cease."

Asuka began to grin triumphantly but Rei wasn't finished, "However we may reach NERV by using the remote access hatch down the corridor from here. The remote access doors are not powered but are manually operated. Any person with a level three key can open these hatches."

"And where do you propose we get a level three key?" the redhead inquired smartly, she was grinning so broadly that if the wind changed and her face became stuck she would have to get a job as a circus clown. 

The First Child dug her hand deep into her left dress pocket and produced a small old style key dangling on a shinny silver chain. Asukas smile dropped and was replaced by a frown and an eyebrow that decided to twitch erratically. "Smart ass" she murmured. 

With a game plan worked out the trio set off to make direct contact with NERV HQ, hoping that the Eva's could be launched without power. With an Angel approaching they could only hope that NERV had some form of emergency plan or at least would fix the generators by the time they arrived.

****

"I never thought I'd have to use one of these emergency tubes to get INTO Central Dogma," a seriously annoyed director of operations grumbled. Her good friend Doctor Akagi had waked Misato up very rudely, almost an hour ago. She had just got back home from her little drinking episode earlier in the morning and was starting to sleep it off. 

Now the woman with scruffy looking violet hair, droopy facial features and big black circles under her eyes was climbing down a forty-story ladder. Following closely behind was a slightly nervous Ritsuko Akagi, "well I always wondered why we needed these things in the first place. I thought they were just holdovers that we kept for our piece of mind, now I know there's actually a use for them."

"Yeah great now we know how to break into NERV," Misato joked sarcastically, "so why did the power go out anyway? Isn't there three backup systems that are supposed to kick in?"

"Yes but they didn't come online," Ritsuko answered as the two continued their decent. "Perhaps they were sabotaged deliberately for some reason?" she thought out aloud. The Doctor continued to ponder this fact privately to herself so much that she almost didn't notice Misato stop climbing down. 

Misato halted at the base of the pipe they had been descending. There was a small round hatch on the floor that would hopefully lead them right into the command room - hopefully. Leaning down the violet haired woman twisted the handle a few times then kicked the hatch down. With a loud creak and a following crash the two exhausted women were finally there.

Commander Ikari glanced up as two figures dropped out of the emergency escape tube and started dusting themselves off. "Nice of you to join us Capitan Katsuragi, Dr Akagi." 

"S-sorry Commander Ikari," Misato blurted as she stumbled to give off a half decent salute. This was not a good thing the commander was being sarcastic to them, which was never heard of so it had to be bad "Any word on the power generators sir?"

Sub Commander Fuyutsuki stepped up behind Gendo and replied, "The engineers have just reported there is major damage to the backup systems. We will have to wait a while for the main power to be returned. Until then we are using life support power to maintain the Magi."

"Is there anyway we can dispatch an Eva?" everyone turned to the new presence in the room, it was a very tired looking Makoto followed by Shigeru, both men crouched over and leaning their hands against their knees. 

The commander studied them for a moment then shook his head, "there is a diesel generator but it is to be used in an emergency only. For what reason would we dispatch an Evangelion?"

"Angel…outside," Shigeru panted a few times almost choking on the words as they exited his mouth. The room was silent for the briefest of moment before it exploded into a cacophony of sounds of people rushing to earn their paychecks. 

****

Today was not shaping up to be a good day for Shinji Ikari. First thing when he woke up this morning he had no idea that he would be knee deep in what looked like slime crawling through a shaft no taller than 16inches and no wider than your average teenager. Now this was only one thing, another was that his hands were beginning to itch, most likely from the rash the green goo was causing. 

Then there was the fact that he was crawling behind a girl in whom he had never thought of in any more ways than a friend and if he looked up he would get a lovely view of…well you have an imagination. That's enough. Also to add to his demise the young Ikari had his irate girlfriend right behind him telling him that if he so much as peeked at the First Childs panties he would never live to remember the sight. So he was pretty much crawling around in the dark following a girl without looking at her and trying not to glance up for fear of safety.

At this point one would think his life couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, the fact that there was a giant spider-like Angel, that for all they knew was trashing the city above, was outside wanting a fight. The poor pilot of Unit 01 could not win today. 

As the trio made their way slowly through the long, small, dirty ventilation shaft, a thought crossed Shinji's mind; a question that he had never even wasted his time deliberating. But at this point it seemed relevant to find out the views of his fellow pilots. Taking a deep breath he asked, without looking up to see Reis panties, "Why do we fight the Angels?"

He received as much as he thought he would from the First Child ahead of him, nothing but silence. Though Asuka was a little more forthcoming with her answer, "Are you serious? Damn you can be dense sometimes Shinji, but I never knew it was this bad, you've spent way too much time with that idiot Suzuhara."

"What? Huh…that's not very fair," Shinji retorted, "Toji's not an idiot, well…not much anyway. And I don't think I asked your opinion of my friends, I wanted to know why exactly we are fighting Angels."

"Why would you want to know that? It's not like we started it you know."

"Well I don't know I just think it's strange that we're fighting them," the cramped boy answered as he continued to crawl along. "Angels are messengers from god, so why are we fighting Angels?"

"Shinji!" the redheaded pilot behind him sighed in exasperation, "THEY attacked us, and if they hadn't started attacking then we wouldn't have to fight them. If these things were sent by god, if such a person exists, then he is one cruel bastard," Asuka rolled her eyes. "Don't you think we have a right to defend ourselves from extinction? Or would you rather just lie down and give up; just let you and the rest of our race fade away."

Shinji sighed he hadn't meant to get Asuka riled up like this she seemed very passionate about what they were doing here, even if he couldn't. "Is that why you're here, why you pilot the Evangelion?" he inquired. That had been one question he had tried hard to figure out for himself, perhaps hearing another's reason would give him a new view of his own meaning in this life that was Shinji Ikari.

"One of the reasons yes, the other…" the redhead paused as she contemplated her true reason for piloting, could she really tell someone else even if it was Shinji her most trusted friend? Why the hell not, she thought to herself, "Um…I don't know, why do you?"

Somewhere through Asukas moment of silence Shinji had stopped crawling he stared ahead deep in thought. Something had hit him a new desire found, something he had never known existed inside of him, the desire to be seen. That was one reason that he could pilot for, the desire to be seen but not by just anyone or everyone, just one and the realization scared him. 

"Shinji, Shinji. SHINJI!!!!" 

The young Ikari saw his train of thought shatter into a million pieces as he heard the most terrifying yell from behind. Asuka was absolutely fuming when he turned his head to look at her, he was slightly confused as he asked "ah…w-what…is it?"

Hearing this seemed to make the redhead, dubbed by his friend Toji the redheaded demon, even more annoyed. "WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT you say? Ooooohhhh, I told you NOT to look up the First Childs dress and what do you do? STARE RIGHT AT IT!!!!!"

"WHAT…AHHH? I-I was n-not," Shinji denied as he shook his head back and forth trying to indicate his innocence. It wasn't until now that he realized that he was looking at Rei's panties, well to Asuka it would have looked that way, when in real life he was too spaced out to notice. 

"I CAN'T believe this now you're trying to lie to ME about it!!" she screamed angrily. "I just SAW YOU staring a second ago and now you're saying that you didn't when I was here to witness it."

"What…wait n-no you…I…oh damn" Shinji was completely out of mental capacity and couldn't manage a full sentence, you know the feeling when your girlfriend just walked in on you and another girl kissing, except in this situation Shinji was innocent. A second later he felt a hand pushing his back down to the floor of the shaft, "h-hey! What are you doing? Ouch."

"Shut up you, I'm going to make sure you don't peek again," the furious girl yelled as she continued to push her boyfriend into the floor. Once he was completely pinned to the floor on his stomach she proceeded to…crawl over his back!

"AHHH what are you doing?" Shinji yelled in panic.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Asuka snapped back, "I'm going to get in front of you so that you can't peek at HER!!"

"I don't think that's a good ideaaaaaa…ouch!" 

Rei Ayanami had stopped crawling quite some time ago, she had been intrigued by the constant yelling behind her and decided to investigate. To her amusement, when she turned around, the Second Child was TRYING to climb over the Third in order to stop him from peeking at her.

"I can't…believe I…have to do this. I thought I could trust you Shinji…" Asuka grumbled as she tried to squeeze her way past the squashed Ikari underneath. She was just above his back when… "Uh oh."

"UH OH, what's uh oh?" Shinji groaned, "Asuka? Uh oh's not good!"

The young German found her face gradually becoming as red as her hair, "I-I think I'm…stuck"

Shinji could see that one coming but it still didn't make him feel any better, "STUCK!!! Oh no, well…uhhh…try going back." 

Asuka nodded and started wriggling in that direction, trying to free herself from the predicament she found herself in. After much wriggling and squirming she concluded one thing, she was stuck. "This is your entire fault you know."

"MY fault, you're the one who started crawling over me!"

"Only because you were peeking at Wondergirls panties!!"

"I w-was not."

"Was too."

"Not."

"TOO."

"NOT."

"TOO!!"

"No… OUCH." Shinji absently rubbed his head where a hand obviously hit him, "what was that for?"

"Arguing with me!" Asuka smiled to herself she obviously had the upper hand in this situation, "now shut up while I find a way out of here." Once again the Second child began to wriggle until she turned her head back to the front and came face to face with Rei Ayanami, "AHHH! Oh… it's just Wondergirl."

"Um Rei, do you think you could help us out?" Shinji inquired looking up at Rei with a pleading face, "please?"

"WAIT no!" Asuka snapped "Why are you asking her for help? I can get us out of this, we don't need her help!"

"Asuka! I don't think we can get out of this mess ourselves and Rei might just know a way to get us out," Shinji sighed, "unless you want to stay like this for a long time."

The redhead thought for a moment, "hmmm, well I don't know Shinji, I like being this close to you. Maybe we will stay like this."

"WHAT?! You have got to be joking," Shinji yelled as he began to wriggle around, "you're not the one pinned to the floor."

Rei looked from Shinji then to Asuka and back to Shinji again, she was willing to help the Third Child in his predicament but for some odd reason she also enjoyed seeing the fiery German stuck like that. After a second of weighing up the possibilities she decided to help "Ikari, would you be able to lift your hand?"

"Sure," Shinji did so, with some difficulty, once his hand was off the floor Rei pushed aside some of the green gunk that was there. Shinji watched on as his oft silent partner carefully picked at something, "what are you doing?" 

Rei did not answer instead she continued to pick at a small well-hidden latch. A moment later, there was a click and she smiled slightly. She then gently pushed Shinji's other hand aside, not bothering to ask, and repeated the earlier process. When the click came this time she smiled more openly. Shinji saw her smile, just before the floor collapsed under them and he and Asuka fell through it and crashed to the room below with a loud thump.

****

The cages were a buzz with movement as Doctor Akagi and Operations Director Katsuragi supervised the preparations of the beasts known as the Evangelions. Misato having had time to quickly freshen up in the bathroom was now semi presentable, though she still looked like she was woken by a fog horn to the ear. 

Ritsuko looked as neat and scientist-like as ever, with her omni present lab coat and that little notepad that she jotted notes on. Even now she was making notes on little things that could be altered to make another operation like this more efficient. They were doing well considering there was no power and an Eva had never been prepared, let alone launched, like this before. 

But there was one slight problem, no pilots.

"Where could they be?" Ritsuko asked a little concerned, mostly due to the giant spider outside that she knew would be doing something to get to the Geo-Front. She marked down that the final phase of ejecting the termination plug was completed and units 01 and 02 were ready for the entry plug insertion. 

Misato turned to face her old friend, "I don't know they were last seen heading to one of the Geo-Fronts entrances. Maybe they got in before the power went out and they're trying to get here." She smiled the way she does, like a kid, adding, "Don't worry I have complete faith that Shinji can get them here, and if he doesn't, then Asuka will certainly push them around."

"I can bet," Ritsuko chuckled lightly, "so on the subject of Shinji and Asuka, anything interesting happen lately?" The good old doctor could not pass up an opportunity to pry into other people's affairs. 

"Not really, I haven't seen or heard from them all day, except this morning when they broke the news to me," Misato replied. "Although Section 2 brought me some interesting photos from the day before, here they are," the violet haired woman pulled out a packet of Kodak photos. 

The first photograph was one of two girls sitting under a tree, one was recognized as Asuka the other her friend Hikari Horaki. They were talking about something serious by the looks on their faces. The next was of the same girls this time a young man easily recognized as Shinji, from his small build, standing in front of them. And the next was of Asuka pulling Shinji to the ground as he tried to walk off. 

When Ritsuko saw the next photo she couldn't help but say, "Awww! That's so cute. Although this seems unusual for someone of both Asuka's and Shinji's psyche to be displaying such affection so publicly."

Misato snatched back the photos and smirked, "I guess that proves that my kids aren't just another statistic. They might just surprise us a little, I know they already have."

"Misato, you're not growing too attached to these kids are you?" Ritsuko sighed when usually eccentric friend remained silent and looked down at the floor, something she had picked up from Shinji before Asuka came. "Don't get too close. Remember what these kids do for a living and what you do. If something were to happen to them then you may be too emotional to perform your duties."

There was a loud creak from the ceiling and both women turned to see what it was, "did you hear that?" Both of them looked at each other as they had said the same thing at the same time. Once more there was a strange sound, although this one could be identified as the roof falling and two human sized objects hitting the floor, hard.

It took only a second before Misato giggled at the two teenagers lying in a tangled mess on the floor groaning from the impact of the fall. A moment later and a third person dropped out of the hole in the roof, although more gracefully, and actually landed on her feet with her arms stretched out to either side in a graceful display of gymnastics.

"Oh there you are!" Ritsuko said, while trying to hold back a wad of laughter that just begged to escape. "We were just…waiting for you," unable to hold it anymore the blonde scientist burst out laughing at the two pilots still in a tangled mess on the floor with the most painful expressions.

Rei looked towards the two women who both seemed to be having a good laugh, Misato having joined in a second after her friend erupted. She did not see what was so comical in the obvious pain of the Second and Third children. "We must launch immediately," she said calmly interrupting the two hysterical women.

"Y-Yes," Misato was the first to bring her laughter somewhat under control, "you're right Rei. Everyone get to your stations don't worry about plug suits this is an emergency and we have no time."

After finally picking herself, and her boyfriend, up off the ground Asuka turned to Misato, "what about the Eva's? I thought the power was out."

"It was all done by hand," Ritsuko butted in causing Misato to get peeved off for being beaten to it. The blonde glanced to one of the Eva cages that held Unit-01 awaiting the entry-plug. Her eyes fixed onto a man with a black beard and a pair of amber tinted glasses who was pulling on a rope holding the plug up, "the commander did it."

Shinji stopped brushing himself off and followed the women's gaze, he too saw the man with the tinted glasses and this surprised the boy. "M-my father did it?" he stumbled.

This time the violet haired loud mouth decided to get in first, "Yup, he believed in you so much that he went and prepared everything himself." As she finished Misato stuck her tongue out at Ritsuko and pulled one of her eyelids down with her finger.

The commander looked over to where the three pilots stood waiting. He glanced to his left, then right, receiving a nod from the technicians on both sides. With the readiness confirmed he lifted his left hand, "prepare for manual entry!"

****

A short moment later and Shinji found himself surrounded by that all too familiar stench; the stench of LCL; the stench of blood. With no power, the start up sequence had to be initiated manually from within the Eva, this was no problem but it would have been easier, and had less chance of screwing up, if the Magi could initiate contact with the Eva.

The orange liquid finished filling the plug and he took his first agonizing breath of the fluid. He had gotten used to it but he still didn't like the stuff. Once the plug was full he pushed the switch on top of the butterfly controls, the environment changed from black to pink then a cascade of colors until it finally settled on the view of the dimly lit cages. 

The digital counter began to flow backwards as his internal batteries began pumping electricity throughout the bio-mechanical beast. "Unit-01 activation complete, everything seems okay," he told Maya through the makeshift comm system she had set up to run through her Laptop that was plugged directly into the Magi. 

Inside of Unit-00 Rei Ayanami went through a similar procedure starting up her Eva and confirming the activation. Today, she felt as if she could conquer this battle on her own. Something deep inside seemed to tease this inclination. 

Asuka was her usual cheery self. There was nothing like getting into a robot that could squash a truck with the mere lifting of its foot. Although the idea of running on backup battery packs that made the Evas less maneuverable, not to mention a fashion disaster. "Well I'm ready," she smiled into the comm channel, "it's time to add another angel to my kill count!"

An image of Shinji appeared in the bottom corner of the redheads' screen, "Asuka it's not a competition to get the highest amount of kills you know."

"Is too."

"Not"

"Too."

"Not."

"Oh look the newlyweds are fighting," Misato giggled into the channel as both teens faces turned bright red, somewhat resembling a tomato. "OH you should have seen the looks on your faces. Anyone would think that you were married! HAHAHA!"

"Misato!" to everyone's surprise it was Ritsuko who seemed to be telling the Major off, "If you don't mind we are running on a very tight schedule. Now Shinji, Asuka, Rei you will have to remove the primary restraints yourselves then use the vertical shaft to reach the surface, is that clear?"

"Right," all three pilots answered in unison. Ritsuko waved to a technician who then ran off in the direction of the manual release for the secondary restraints. 

Commander Ikari stepped up to the edge of the gangway that led to the Evas' entry plugs, "Sever the primary restraint's hydraulics." His order was obeyed within seconds as technicians took to the rubber pipe with axes and other sharpened objects. Once confirmed Gendo looked in the opposite direction, "Release secondary locks."

Once again the order was carried out by technicians on all three Evas with the restraints removed the rest was up to the pilots and their Evangelions. 

Shinji and Unit-01 were the first, using the mighty Evas superior strength Shinji pushed against the restraint that was loosely pinning him to the wall. The metallic object offered little resistance and began to grind its way across the floor, allowing Unit-01 a little bit more movement. Unit-00 and 02 followed suit as they both pushed at their own restraints. All three pilots were rewarded at last, as the Evas were freed and ready to kick Angel ass. 

Maya Ibuki kept a close eye on the status of the children with her laptop. Misato, having nothing left to do but wait, sat on the floor behind. 

"So how are they?" Ritsuko asked it was customary to review all activation data even if it was routine it still had to be done. 

"I'm getting a minor thought interruption from Unit-02s entry plug. It's only minimal so it might be a bug in the system," she reported pointing to a specific graph. 

Ritsuko leaned in to get a better view and rightly commented, "I think there's something in there. It probably isn't anymore than a mouse or something small. It shouldn't interfere but how did it get in there without us knowing?"

"I can answer that ma'am," Maya popped up "usually when the Evas are activated the cages and plugs are well lit. But with no power to light the area it was dark, now mice and small creatures like that love the dark so that would allow it to move around unseen. Then there's the LCL, Shinji has constantly complained that LCL smells like blood this smell would attract smaller animals looking for food. Well that's what I think anyway."

"Hmmm….good deduction Maya," Ritsuko smiled at her protégé's wit.

"Thank you ma'am," the Bridge Bunny replied beaming "shall I inform Asuka?"

"No need for that, it won't interfere so we'll just deal with it later."

****

"This is pathetic," a whiney redhead yelled through the comm. The three Evas had made it halfway up the vertical access shaft and were nearing the surface. Apart from the fact that they were climbing up a shaft meant for no more than one Eva, while carrying a spare battery pack, each, and their pallet rifles, they were doing quite well.

"The vertical hatch is in sight," Rei reported as her Eva was the first in the line of climbing mechas. Planting her feet deep into the steel rim of the shaft to steady herself the First Child used her fist to pound on the hatch. After a few blows, the metal doors buckled and flew off of their hinges. 

With access to the outside world, Rei flipped her Eva out of the shaft and on to solid ground, followed closely by Asuka then Shinji. The city was quiet. All three pilots surveyed the area for their target, but there was no Angel to be seen.

"Are you sure there was an Angel out here Shinji?" Asuka asked a little confused and annoyed, "because there isn't anything here."

"Well it's not my fault if we can't see the thing," Shinji answered back just as confused, "maybe it's gone." The only thing the young Ikari saw was a flock of birds fluttering out of a park in the distance, it was his only warning. In a sudden flash of movement something struck Unit-01s faceplate and sent it flying to the ground. Shinji cried out in pain as his Eva easily leveled two city blocks by sliding along the ground until his trip had ended in a parking lot. 

Asuka's first instinct was to jump to her boyfriend's rescue by attacking whatever attacked him. But there was nothing to attack, no sign of an angel anywhere. "Shinji are you okay?" she called out.

Shinji was still rubbing his aching face when he received the message, apart from a sore head and a slight back ache he was fine, "Yeah I'm…okay I guess. Anyone see that, where did it come from?" Unit-01 shakily rose to its feet using what was left of the parking lot to steady itself as it stood. 

"There would appear to be nothing here," Rei observed. All that remained of an Angels presence was the large trail of rubble left behind by Unit-01s slide from a blow that came out of nowhere. "Wait!" she called, she could sense something. It was close, very close "It's coming…"

In the blink of an eye Unit-01's feet whipped out from underneath it and the mighty beast crashed to the ground, destroying anything that was left standing the last time. Once again there was no sign of an enemy only the aftermath of the attack and the painful screams of one teenage boy.

"Shinji!" Asuka screamed her finger already poised just above the trigger, "That's it! There's something here and I'm going to kill it!" She aimed her Pallet-Rifle in the direction from which the attack seemed to be emanating and pulled the trigger. A volley of hot metal raced through the air and collided into an apartment complex and other surrounding structures, "Where the hell is it?!"

Rei, who was as calm as ever, continued to examine the battlefield in search of the enemy. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something, it was a glimmer, as if she was looking through a glass bottle and someone moved it. The distortion resided just above Unit-01's collapsed form, "Ikari…"

With no more than a thought her pallet-Rifle kicked into action and she fired a single shot to the position she suspected. The bullet cruised through the air until it collided with the air above the downed Eva, and an agonizing moan filled her cockpit. A split second later, Rei's suppositions were laid to rest when blood began to trickle from a hole fixated in the sky. 

It's cover blown, a dark form began to materialize from the space occupied above Shinji's location. Little-by-little, the form's spindly legs and awkward central region became visible, and validated the testimony that Shinji had exclaimed earlier that day: a spider. Not just any spider, certainly, but one with innumerable eyes covering its body, gleaming with the telltale sign of… tears? Add to that, the insurmountable height of the monster's legs, and one could only conclude, with a less-than-sane mind, that this was not an ordinary arthropod.

Spinning quickly, Asuka came face to… eyes with the offender in question. "Shit!" the pilot pulled her pallet-rifle up and let off a hailstorm of fire, but the defensive yellow light of an A.T field stopped any progress the bullets had made. "What the hell? Wondergirl get in there and neutralize Its A.T. field while I take it down."

Rei being the ever so obedient soldier moved in to an offensive position, taking orders but also keeping her eyes on Shinji's downed Evangelion. Spreading her own A.T field the blue Eva launched forward, both yellow fields collided in a powerful shockwave causing nearby windows to crack and shatter. 

Positioning herself to take advantage of the enemies preoccupation, Asuka trained the targeting reticule for pallet-rifle at the angel's central mass. Her finger was about to hit the trigger when a flurry of movement caught the corner of her eye. What was odd was that it seemed to originate from within the entry plug. She peered round her seat to gain a better view of the commotion.

As her eyes met the creature they went wide with shock and the plug fell silent.

****

**Early 2004**

"Mama!"

"Look at me Mama."

"I'm an elite pilot!"

The enthusiasm of the four-year-old child was unbreakable as she ran down the corridor. She was a small girl she had red hair that went down to her shoulder, tied in twin ponytails held up with bright red hair clips.

Asuka Langley Soryu ran down the hall her voice full of joy as she would have the chance to prove to her mother that she was better than a doll. She did not slow as she approached the door the young girl merely placed her hand out in front and pushed it open. 

"Mama, look at me I'm…"

The halls fell silent and, as if to suddenly reflect the atmosphere, they darkened blending with the still night outside. There would have been a loud scream had it not been for the impact of what the child saw. Her eyes were wide, staring at the limp figure hanging before her like a cloth being dried out. 

The woman was of a young age, barley even her early thirties, old enough to have given birth to an only child. Her blue eyes were void, lifeless, they were the windows to her soul but there was nothing there, there hadn't been for a long time. Her dark hair was tangled and unclean, as if she hadn't showered in days. Asuka stared for what seemed like an eternity at the thing that would haunt her till the rest of her life, the terrifying smile that graced Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's face.

When the child's eyes finally dropped away she saw that doll, that stupid doll that had taken her place, taken her mothers affection from her. The doll that was, in her mother's eyes, her, her daughter. The stitching had been ripped along the neck, and the head was torn clear off the shoulders, bleeding cotton stuffing onto the floor.

Unnoticed until now, by the girl, a small rodent had entered the room in search of food and a place to nest. It scurried its way across the wooden floorboards and into the middle of the room below the dangling figure. The mouse sniffed the air and found a scent to its liking and approached the torn doll. 

She continued to watch, mortified, as the mouse began to tear the stuffing out of the dolls severed head. The doll in which represented her, her mother's doll, and her replacement. Something, deep inside of her mind, snapped and the halls were no longer silent as the terrified screams of a four-year-old girl rang out, never to be heard by another living soul.

****

"What the hell is going on?!" Ritsuko Akagi yelled, "What's the status on the pilots?"

Maya's fingers flew across her laptops keyboard and soon the comm feed was replaced by three small graphs. Each provided information on the pilot in the Eva indicated, "Shinji is down and he's getting hammered. Reis synch rate isn't that high so she must be having trouble moving and…Unit-02 has gone silent!!"

"What the HELL?" Misato exclaimed in panic, "What do you mean by its gone silent?"

"Exactly that Ma'am, Unit-02 has deactivated and there is no response from the pilot."

"How much time do they have left?"

"Less than two minutes."

Misato watched the screen helplessly, completely powerless, as the 9th Angel, designated so by the Magi, began to toy with its prey. It seemed determined to make sure the Eva beneath it remained there. This was bad for Shinji. 

From within the entry plug the wounded Third Child could clearly see the belly of the beast above. The spider like angel had him pinned down for the last minute or so but it had made no effort to finish him off, until now. As Shinji tried to overcome the excruciating pain caused by the neural link with the Eva, the angels' body began to change. A thin line cut straight across the center of the creature's underside. The line began to bulge for a few seconds before slitting open to reveal a pupil and iris.

Another eye.

Shinji gasped

Suddenly, everything burned. 

There were more agonizing cries from Unit-01 as it was bathed in an unholy baptism of fiery liquid. The orange acid flowed like a waterfall, burning and melting anything it touched. The purple armor belonging to the ill-fated Evangelion was slowly but surely dissolving with every last drop. 

Off to the side, Unit-00 stood watching calmly, although the pilot was not the same, for the first time that she could remember, a sudden wave of adrenaline rushed through her upper extremities, and a lump formed in her throat. Not even seconds passed before something warm tickled her face, and drew a path down her cheek to stop at her chin: a tear. Something deep inside urged her to double her efforts.

 At that moment all hell broke loose.

"Get it away from me!!"

The panicked scream echoed throughout the city drowning out those of the third child, followed by a string of thrashing noises. Unit-02 had gone nuts, one moment it was sitting there, deactivated; now the Biomechanical beast was staggering backwards and smashing into the sides of buildings while holding its head. 

Unit-02 slammed its hand into a building as if it were trying to scare something away; all it did was create more rubble for the city engineers to clean. A second later and the pallet rifle the Eva was holding let out a burst of fire, aimed at nothing in particular, as if under the control of a hapless child. 

Rei spun round to face the Red Eva and ducked just in time to avoid a stray round of bullets. She could see that the Eva was no longer under the control of the Second Child. 

It was with the next fit of screams that the First Child received her answer, "Get it away from me get that thing out of my Eva!! Leave me alone!!" The bone chilling cries were drowned out as the Eva continued to empty its clip of ammo into the city. 

There was one more cry, but it came from behind Reis Eva, and it was a male voice. In the confusion a few bullets had managed to hit the Angel catching it off guard and penetrating its flesh before the A.T field was activated. But on the other hand some had been unfortunate enough to hit a target that was supposed to be left alone. Unit-01 had been on the receiving end of five pallet shells. 

If the units A.T Field had been up this would not have been a problem, sadly the Eva's defenses had dropped out minutes before. Rei heard the Third Childs last cry for help before the comm went silent. Unit-02 also fell silent as it used the last of its ammo and power.

The first Child stood alone before the Angel, with less than a minute left to destroy the enemy and rescue the only person who had shown her affection. The internal clock hit 00:57, there was not much time left. 

"Ikari…"

Something flashed in the back of Rei Ayanami's mind. She saw herself seated in her entry-plug, her head hung to one side, barley conscious. She could hear something going on outside, but the pain she felt compelled her to hold still. Then the sounds grew louder and she heard a voice. She heard him. 

When her eyes opened the first thing that Rei saw was the worried face of a younger version of commander Ikari, his son Shinji. At that moment she knew that this boy was different than any other she had met.

Rei opened her eyes and looked darkly at the Angel hovering above Unit-01, "You will not take him." In the flash of an instant Uni-00 leapt forward, its feet kicking up dust as they lifted off the ground. Somersaulting forward the Eva kicked down with both its feet connecting with one of the angel's legs, snapping it clean in half. 

Once it hit the ground, Unit-00 pulled itself up and launched forward again this time grabbing a second leg in two different spots and twisting until a blood curdling snap could be heard. In a desperate attempt to ward off its attacker, the angel raised its A.T field hoping to propel the Eva away. But Unit-00 was not so easily taken down. Instead the Eva spread its own field and cancelled out the Angels. 

Once again on the offensive Rei extracted the progressive knife from its holster and slammed it hard into the enemy's belly. She violently ripped it back and forth spraying blood around like an unsteadied fire hose. The blue unit stopped as the Knife hit something hard. Using the last twenty seconds of power, the First Child stabbed at the core piercing it in one fluid thrust. 

There was a pause. The Angel released a final volley of acid tears, before crumbling to the ground in a mass of flesh and blood. Unit-00 stood and fell silent. There was no movement from the beast apart from the faint white glimmer in its eyes. 

****

Central Dogma was in an uproar, as information and battle data churned out by the three super computers known as the Magi. Within that very data Ritsuko Akagi found a rare occurrence that had only happened once before, and her face became shocked as she read over the bold highlighted word "Berserker."

"What the hell is going on?!" an extremely stressed Major Katsuragi yelled over the commotion, "What's happening to the pilots?" For a moment her only answer was the constant droning of machines pumping out wads of useless records. The majors eyes narrowed into deadly slits and she yelled at the top of her voice, "What's the condition of the pilots?!"

The entire command centre fell deathly quiet at the sudden outburst of the furious operations director. The first to break the silence was tech bunny Maya, "Unit-01 is severely damaged, faint signal on the pilot. Unit-00 is out of power. Pilot is in perfect health and…unit-02 is silent, battery power remaining almost a minute. Pilot status…" the young techs eyes widened "Asukas psycho-graph is off the scale!"

"Eject the entry plug on all units," Misato ordered loudly, her instincts already kicking in her brain churning out a million thoughts, scenarios, and worries at the exact same time, flooding her with anxiety. "I want a medical team out there ASAP go to full medical alert, get Shinji and Asuka down to the infirmary right away." 

Once the orders were dealt out and the major knew they would be carried out properly she turned to Ritsuko, "Ritsu, please take care of the rest. I'm going to the infirmary I don't expect to be back soon." That said the worried surrogate mother rushed out of the command centre and made a quick sprint to the nearest transport-car all the while her mind was pleading for her two children to be alright.

Dr. Akagi turned in time to see her long time friend run out the door and disappear into the corridor. She turned back to her logs and checked them again. There was no doubt in her mind: Unit-00 had awakened. Faster than she could say "Evangelion Launch," her cell phone was in her hand and connecting to another.  

A gruff male voice picked up on the other end, "Yes?"

"It has happened," Ritsuko stated simply.

"Excellent." 

The doctor could almost feel the evil grin of Gendo Ikari on the other end, "Record all data, enter it into the core of the prototype and begin production of the test-type."

"But sir that could be…"

"Do it."

"Yes sir."                      

****

A/N: Phew, that took me a LONG TIME, I don't know what was wrong but I just couldn't get the urge to write for a while. Then my life got a hole lot more complicated, its hard trying to juggle School, work, social and then hobby as well especially when your hobby requires a good imagination, I think I may have said this but school really sucks that away from ya. 

Anyway I apologies for my tardiness in this chapter, I hope you can all forgive me Bucky bows his head in shame but if you don't……TOUGH SHIT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Bucky sticks his tongue out Misato style ^_^ Yep you guessed it peoples I'M BACK!!! Bucky is back in da mood he is cocked, locked and ready to rock! 

Well, well I wonder what's going to happen next….no really I do cause I haven't thought of it yet…………………………Got ya, had yas goin for a second didn't I? ^_~ so what will happen to Shinji, what Injuries did he sustain? What kind of physiological affects are there going to be for Asuka, and how will she take the news of her hitting Shinji in the crossfire? And also what is everyone's favorite spy up to, and no I'm not talking about James Bond -_-. Only I know so make sure u read the next chap……I haven't thought of a name for ^_^!  

Thanx again to Autophage for da pre-reading, sorry for all the mistakes and shit but I had to re-install windows XP -_- and so my MS-word's all screwy at the moment.

Seyas on da other side………………..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               


	14. When memories fade

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter: 14: When memories fade

**Audience:** Bout bloody time Bucky!!

**Bucky:** WELL SORRY! But my PC died not so long ago, god rest its soul and I haven't been able to write for a long time!  

**Asuka:** Yeah, yeah, yeah blame the PC 

**Bucky:**  Shut up you!!!

**Asuka:** Make me!!!

**Shinji:**  Asuka are you arguing with the author? NOT a good idea! 

**Asuka:** Stay out of it Shinji!!

**Bucky:** That's it zaps Asuka with a beam of holy light  

**Asuka:** HAHA what was that supposed to do!

**Bucky:** You'll see hehehehe

**Asuka looks at herself in a mirror **

**Asuka:** AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I'M FAT!!!!

**Shinji:** I told her ^_^'   

The darkness was unsurpassed in room 303 of NERV's private hospital ward, not only was it poorly lit but it was cold and lonely. The few noises echoing through the room were that of the respirator and the heart rate monitor, keeping their vigil watch over the sole occupant. The boy had been there since the incident with the Angel, his body was covered with bruises and his head was wrapped with a long white bandage on his forehead.   

The atmosphere outside of the hospital room was just as dark, across the hall from the room waited three tired women. Asuka lay sprawled out over three chairs, her feet dangling loosely over the edge. Her head resting in the lap of Misato Katsuragi who herself was using the back of her chair as a head rest. Asuka was still in her plug-suit not having the time to change Misato was still dressed in her normal short skirt and jacket. Neither was asleep, nor were they awake. They were trapped in that moment before you fall asleep where time seems to stand still were everything becomes blurry and all you can hear is the beginning of a dream.

_~All we see or seem is a dream within a dream~  _

The third was one not quite expected, or welcomed by one of the other two. Rei Ayanami had felt that it was her duty to be there, as if she had no choice, but if she did she would have found herself there anyway. She did not know how to explain her feelings towards Shinji Ikari, whether they were that of a friend, co-worker, team mate or something more she simply did not understand them. It was as if there was a force that pulled her closer to the boy, perhaps his kind and gentle nature something she had never known before. 

It was clear to her what had happened that afternoon during the fight, it happened to her again, the Eva went berserk. But instead of destroying HQ or trying to kill the commander, it listened to her inner thoughts. Her thoughts that were asking for a chance to save Shinji and it heard. Rei turned her head slightly to the right to glance at the Major and the Second Child. Misato had fallen asleep minutes ago now the only signs of life from her was her soft breathing. 

The redhead who was next to the Operations Director still had her eyes open, but if Rei were to wave her hand in front of them they would not blink or she wouldn't even see it. Asuka was found shortly after the battle curled up in a fetal position within her entry plug whispering something about 'it not taking her as well.' It was later concluded that she had suffered a physiological episode triggered by a small rodent in her plug. The significance of the rodent was still unknown. 

She looked back towards the door in front of the three it had been four hours since the doctors had last checked on his condition. Rei found herself fighting back the urge to go in and check for herself, much like Asuka had done before. The bold redhead did not succeed however, as Misato was able to convince her that she should do as the doctors said and leave him to rest. 

Rei may not have looked tired to the eyes of any who passed by but in fact she was about to fall asleep herself. In an attempt to stay awake the blue haired beauty slowly stood and took a few quick steps towards Shinji's room. The small voice in the back of her head was telling her to go in and check on him so that's what she was going to do. 

She lifted her finger up to the door release button and she was lightly pressing in when she felt the eyes of another on her. This feeling was confirmed when the Second Child spoke in a low growl, "Touch that door and you'll find yourself in a different hospital room, for a more painful reason."

The blue haired pilot turned around and glanced at Asuka, she was no longer lying across three chairs but was now sitting up. Her legs were drawn up to rest on the edge of the chair and her arms were wrapped around them. The redhead's eyes were narrowed into slits and her mouth formed the most horrifying scowl ever imaginable. 

"You're not seeing him before I do," Asuka commanded still in a low angry voice, "if I even let you in to see him." 

Rei stared quizzically at the red haired girl before her, "what makes you think that you control who sees Ikari and who does not?" 

"No one," the agitated girl snapped back her eyes seemed to glow with hatred, "anyone who wants can see him, except YOU."

"Why is it that you despise me so?"

"I just do, do I need a reason to hate someone?"

"Yes."

"Fine then, I hate you because you are a doll who follows orders and gets to close to my Shinji."

"Ikari is not your property."

"I know that but I am his girlfriend and I don't like some blue haired bitch getting to close to him. Yeah I've seen the way you look at him sometimes, so just don't think about it, it's never going to happen."

"I do not wish to steal Ikari from you I only wish to understand these feelings I have."

"Then understand them with someone else."

"Excuse me ladies…" both girls' heads turned toward the new voice that had interrupted their 'Conversation.' Standing a few feet down the hall from them was a tall man with dark hair tied in a ponytail and dressed in a white lab coat. He had a stethoscope around his neck and a chart in his hand, "are you in anyway related to a Shinji Ikari?"

Asuka jumped to her feet as she answered, "I'm his girlfriend, what's wrong with him? Why hasn't he woken up yet? Can I see him?"

"Whoa, whoa calm down miss," the doctor flashed a quick smile and then checked his chart, "it appears that he'll be fine, there's no permanent damage." He let the sheet on the chart drop back down and looked around, "I do need to speak with his guardian Miss Katsuragi."

"Hold on," the relieved redhead turned around and shook the slumbering Misato's shoulders in an effort to wake her. "Misato wake up," she shook even harder "Misato it's about Shinji. Wake up… hmmmm…I got you a beer."

In an instant the slightly acholic Majors eyes flew open and she was wide awake, "What…beer…where?" After a minute of looking the lavender haired woman deducted that there was no beer and that she probably wouldn't be getting one any time soon. After a second she noticed the doctor and turned serious. 

"Miss Katsuragi I presume?" the doctor guessed he received a quick nod from the drowsy woman. "As I explained to this young lady here your son has suffered no long term physical affects, a few bruises and a mild concussion."

"CONCUSSION?!!"

The doctor nodded his head, "yes it appears that he hit his head pretty hard, most likely when he was knocked to the ground. He will be fine given some time to recover it is ok to see him now but I must warn you…"

Without hearing another word Asuka pushed past the First Child who was still in front of the door and ran into the room. The site inside made the redhead sad as she walked swiftly but quietly to the bedside. She pulled up a chair that was next to the sleeping boy and sat down in it. 

Shinji was still on the respirator and the heart rate monitor just in case, though nothing could happen to him. Asuka lifted her hand up and gently placed it on his as it lay there limply by his side. Her other hand came up to brush a stray strand of hair from his face, "you need a hair cut Shinji."

She smiled for a second then continued to stroke his hair with her fingers, "I'm sorry, I did this to you. I wasn't there to help, and what's worse is I shot you. I know it was an accident but I just can't help but think…" her voice dropped to a whimper as a tear began to trickle down her cheeks, "…that I put you in here." Asuka lowered her head to rest on the bed next to the sleeping Ikari, to overwhelmed with tears to sit up properly.

With the wetness slowly dripping onto his hand the boy found his eyes beginning to open slowly millimetre by millimetre. Using his free hand Shinji lifted the face mask off so he could breathe normally and also see the person who had drenched his hand. 

Asuka having felt the movement lifted her head to see the brown haired boy looking at her confused and distantly. She did not notice however as she almost jump forward capturing him in a tight embrace. "Shinji you're awake, oh I'm so glad you're ok."

"Uh…ah," Shinji did not return the hug for he was to scared and confused to do so, after a moment he gathered his thoughts and asked in barley a whisper, "w-who are you?" 

Asuka dropped back from her embrace and smiled at the boy, "this is not the time for jokes Shinji you scared me half to death." She looked him over through puffy eyes and she saw the scared and confused look on his face, "y-you're not joking…are you?"

"N-no," the boy looked down at the girl, "please tell me…w-where am I and who you are? I feel like I should know you but…"

The redhead jumped as she felt a hand go on her shoulder from behind, she looked back to see a sorrowful Misato standing next to the doctor. She sighed and then spoke, "I'm sorry Asuka, but Shinji…Shinji has amnesia."

"Amnesia!?"

"Correct," the doctor interrupted, something he seemed good at doing, "Shinji has sustained some minor memory loss, it is only temporary his memory should return in a couple of days. He just needs to rest and concentrate on getting it back." 

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Shinji said dumbfounded still feeling a little insecure about the attractive young girl gripping his hand to the point that it cut off circulation. "Who are all of you?" 

"I'm Misato Katsuragi, your roommate, guardian and commanding officer." Misato said in a sweet tone trying not to scare the poor boy. 

Shinji looked to the Doctor, "oh you don't know me we've never met my name is Kaji, Dr Kaji." The man held out his hand and Shinji shook it with his free one, the other still being gripped by the girl unknown to him.

The boys' eyes turned to the girl who was currently standing behind the woman called Misato to the left a little, "who…are you? You look familiar also."

"I am a friend," Rei stated, having learnt the meaning of the word from the commander she was almost proud to say she was his friend, "I am Rei Ayanami the First Child. We also work together."

Shinji then turned to the final person in the room, Asuka who was still tightly holding his hand despite his attempts to pry her off. "And you? Are you my sister or something?"

"Far from it Shinji," the redhead stated a little bit sad but getting used to the idea of this amnesia, "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu, fellow pilot, your best childhood friend not to mention your…" 

In a flash Asukas statement was cut short as Misato slapped her hand over the German girls' mouth. "Roommate," the smiling woman provided, seeing as though the redhead could no longer speak, although she did keep trying but her words came out as humphs. "Would you please excuse us for a second," she pulled Asuka to her feet and dragged her kicking and, if she could, screaming out the door and into the hall.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" the enraged teenager yelled as soon as her guardian let her go. "I was just about to tell him the most important detail and then you grab me and drag me out like a child!"

"Asuka calm down," Misato said in a firm voice "now, Shinji has got Amnesia he doesn't need to know everything at once. He is confused at the moment so let's not scare him anymore by putting pressure on him."

Asuka stared at her guardian with a look that could melt Antarctica all over again, "are you saying that I can't tell him what we really are or be close to him until he gets his memory back?"

The major of NERV thought for a second then shook her head, "no. You can tell him that sort of stuff when he gets used to us again. If he…" she stopped herself for a moment "listen to us we're talking as if this is permanent! He'll be fine in a few days a week at the most."

****

Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV and one of the conspirators behind a top secret scenario known only as 'The Human Instrumentality Project' stepped into the dark room preparing to meet with his superiors. A moment after he was positioned a light burst up from beneath his feet brightening the room slightly. One by one twelve monoliths came into being lighting up with a blue florescent glow. 

The monolith ladled 01 turned green as a voice of foreign origins spoke, "Commander Ikari, what is the status of Evangelion Unit-01 and its pilot?"

The commander shifted his amber tinted glasses further up onto his nose then answered in a calm monotonous voice, "the Unit has sustained minor damage to the chest and right arm it will take a few weeks to regenerate properly, but can be operational within one week if necessary. The pilot has sustained mental damage and will be out for some time, it is still unknown how long."

04's monolith turned green and a man with what seemed a French accent spoke, "how does this chain of events affect the project?"

"There will be no change, the project remains on schedule," Gendo answered with a hint of anger. The man did not like having his ability to maintain a project like this questioned by men who choose to hide behind darkened stones and voice projectors. 

"Is it true that the scenario predicted in the Dead Sea scrolls has already changed?" number 07 asked a little worriedly.

"Yes this is a good point 7, the Angels are coming faster than predicted something must have altered the time line. Does this mean the Dead Sea scrolls are obsolete?" 10 added his concerns to the mix. 

The small room suddenly filled with commotion as all the monoliths began speaking to each other. The voice of 01 rose above the rest and demanded silence, the others slowly settled and complied with their leader. "Ikari, you are no longer required for this meeting."

The monoliths disappeared and the light beneath Gendo faded away leaving the man in relative darkness he shifted his glasses again then turned toward the exit. As he was leaving the commander pulled a small mobile phone from his pocket and hit speed dial, "get me the translators."

****

"There we go, home sweet home," Misato smiled as she swiped her security card through the reader which ultimately gave the trio access to their apartment. The sleep deprived woman lead the way through the door followed by Shinji with Asuka trailing behind. 

The boy took a quick glimpse of what he could see in the vicinity of the front door, there was a hall with two doors along it that turned off to the right and continued. The two rooms along the wall had no markings or indications of owners on them. Shinji moved a little but then hesitated he placed his foot back to the ground and looked down. 

Misato saw this and felt a feeling of déjà vu as if something was happening all over again, it seems that someone had reset the wheel and the past was replaying itself. "What's the matter Shinji?" she asked still not shaking that familiar feeling. 

"I…I don't want to intrude," the boy answered meekly, he shuffled his feet and fidgeted with something in his pocket. He looked up to see the violet haired woman staring back down at him with a smile on her face, though the small tear line betrayed that smile. 

"You're not intruding Shinji," the NERV major stated with a hint of sadness, realising where she had seen this before, "this is your home too." Misato watched as the boy shuffled for the last time and then started to walk down the hall slowly. 

It was still dark inside apart from the small flashing red light on the answering machine. In the small kitchen the oven and microwave gave off periodic flash to remind anyone who was present that they were on and working. The adjacent living room was all silent mainly because the TV wasn't on for once. 

Shinji passed a room labelled 'Shinji's lovely suite' and the bathroom then entered the kitchen. As he saw the surroundings something flashed in his mind something he couldn't quite place, he turned to what seemed to be the centre of this flash, two fridges. 

_What's in the other fridge?_

_Oh leave him, he's probably still sleeping._

_Sleeping?_

As yet another memory was dug up inside his mind the corner of Shinji's mouth turned up into a slight smile. The image of himself running out of the bathroom wearing nothing to tell his new guardian of a creature in the bathroom. He was followed by a Penguin walking calmly to a fridge and stepping inside it. He smiled fully as he could remember his red face as he ran back to the bathroom to cover up. 

"I…I'm home."

A/N: Well, well, well I is back…for now anyways. I have to apologise to you all but as the top said my PC has died and I was lucky to get it to work long enough to produce this chapter. But fear less my loyal fans, for I have put into motion a plan to buy me a new computer by the end of this month, actually in two weeks. So when I get my new beast of a machine you will have many more chaps from me including the End to memories which I am currently concluding. So bear with me for I will be out for the next 2 weeks, this thing is dead. 

As some of u may have noticed I have changed my email to a hotmail address, due to the fact that my old one is now asking me to PAY for it. STUPID TIGHT ARSES!!!! Anyway my new address is bucky699@hotmail.com and I also now have messenger working again so if u want then u can add me and we can chat sometime. As for this chapter I know it short and not much happens but hey its da best I can do for now. I get my new PC in time for the holidays so I'll be fast with chaps again…..I think. 

Sorry Autophage no time for pre-readin though I probably needs it, but I gotta let ppl know I'm not dead just my PC is ^_^

Seyas on da other side………….                                                                                                                                                                                              


	15. Memories of friends long lost

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

In association with Seranov Industries

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter: 15: Memories of friends long lost

**Asuka:** I'll get you for what you did to me last time you stupid author!

**Shinji:** ASUKA! Don't start that again! Let it go!

**Asuka:** NO I wont, he will pay for making me FAT!

**Bucky:** Yikes you talk a lot, hmmmm that gives me an idea

** Bucky pulls out giant pencil and uses the eraser to rub out Asukas' mouth **

**Asuka:** mumbles something 

**Bucky:** What was that? Hehehehe

**Japan Early 2006**

"Asuka I can't swim," Shinji said as the bus came to the stop at the beach. The two children along with Shinjis' uncle pilled out and followed the rest of the busses passengers to the pathway that led to the yellow sandy beach.

Asuka smiled at the young boy, "its ok Shinji I'll teach you how to swim."

Shinjis Uncle smiled at the two as they trailed off towards the change rooms to get ready for their day in the sun. Meanwhile he stopped at the pay phone just outside at a nearby payphone; he deposited a few coins then picked up the receiver. "Gendo Ikari please" he waited a moment before his brother answered the phone "hello little brother…"

The young redhead was first to emerge from the change rooms followed shortly by Shinji from the boy's room. They both ran up to Shinjis Uncle and smiled sweetly "can we go to the rock pools first?" they both said at the exact same time causing the older man to chuckle to himself. Having finished with his conversation he hung up the phone and nodded. Taking Shinji and Asuka by the hand they walked off towards the rock pools together eager to discover strange and fascinating creatures.

Having made their way to the pools rather quickly the threesome had been the first to arrive in the best spots. They began playing around in the largest of five pools that were close to the waters edge. Shinji was getting a crash course on swimming from his redheaded friend while their guardian kept a close eye on them.

"I don't know about this Asuka, what if I drown?" Shinji inquired nervously as he waded in the water that was no higher then his belly.

Asuka gave Shinji a quick glare, "you're not going to drown with me here so be quiet and learn to swim."

"Shinji, Asuka," the older man called the children's attention, "I'd like for you to meet somebody very special."

Shinji rose his head from up out of the water and Asuka turned on her heal, which was under water of course, and glared at Shinjis uncle. She had just gotten Shinji used to having the water around him and had convinced him to put his head under and hold his breath.

The older man chuckled a little at the twos behavior he then turned his attention to the young girl at his side. "This is Alisa Nagisai," he motioned towards the young girl. She was Shinji and Asuka's age wearing a silver one-piece bathing suit that matched the color of her long hair.

"Hello," the little girl spoke in a soft pleasant voice. She looked directly at Shinji, her amber eyes watching him curiously "hello you must be the third."

**Japan Present Day **

Shinji couldn't tell if he was dreaming or remembering, something about this girl felt real as if she was physically there. In front of him stood a girl with long silver hair tied back into a ponytail. She was his size and height; she was also slender like him although she was well filled out when it came to her womanly features. Her eyes seemed to glow slightly they were red a strange eye color, but one he knew he had seen before.

"Where am I?" the boy asked looking in all directions, all he could see was white nothing more, no horizon, no sky, nothing. He looked to the girl expecting her to answer him she did no such thing. The girl merely stood there looking directly at the young Ikari unwavering.

"You," the girl finally spoke in a soft voice "are here." Stunning Shinji with her cryptic answer to his simple inquiry "you are one with the synthetic life from known as Evangelion Unit-01."

"What?" Shinji asked quizzically "I'm still in the entry plug?"

"No, your body is out, your mind remains."

"How can that be?"

"It just is."

"Who are you?"

"You already know my name Shinji, for this is not the first time we've met."

Slowly the surroundings began to stir first the ground turned a gray color and a sky was formed above. The place in which he stood was being mapped out like a canvas in the hands of a painter. Eventually the scene was set and things began to come alive people began moving around running and jumping. Children splashed around in pools of clear water while birds flew overhead in a sunny sky.

There in front of his very eyes Shinji could see himself still a child being taught how to swim by another. Asuka, Asuka was teaching him to swim. He couldn't help but smile at this memory "she taught me how to swim jus so she didn't have to come to the beach alone."

"She taught you to swim so that you could live a better life then you had. Think of all the things you would never have tried if it was not for her influence." The girl walked to the image of young Shinji and Asuka "this is where we first met young Shinji, even then she was protective of you."

"Alisa, your name" the confused boy looked to his companion "your name is Alisa. My uncle knew you and brought you to our beach."

"Yes"

"But how, why are you here?"

"I cannot tell you right now, it is too early for you to know. By having this conversation we are altering things yet to be." Alisa cocked her head sideways "do you really love her or do you just need her? If she were to die tomorrow would you live on?"

"I…I would live," shocked at the question Shinji moved towards the young Asuka "but I would not love anyone else."

"That's good for you."

"Borderline reached."

"Eva-01 is active."

Shinji Ikari looked around, he could remember very little of all this. His mind whirled at the fact that he was sitting inside a robot that could flatten a forty-story building. It had been three weeks since 'the accident' as everyone was calling it. His memory had not yet returned but it had shown him glimpses into his former life.

The boy looked down at the strange outfit they had asked him to put on before he got into this thing. It was blue and white, which seemed to contrast with the color of his Evangelion as they called it. He hadn't fully understood what exactly was going on around him. Apparently he was the pilot of this, Evangelion, thing and that is why he suffered a head injury. The two girls he had come to know Asuka and Rei were both also pilots.

Both girls brought about strange feelings he couldn't place on one hand there was the stoic Rei Ayanami. This girl was strange she hardly spoke unless spoken to and never smiled or showed any form of emotion at all. Though she seemed dull and emotionless the young Ikari felt comfortable and calm around her. He felt as though he was around a parent or a close relative.

Asuka, Asuka was another thing. The feeling connected to her was deeper then that of Reis it was more soulful. Around the redhead Shinji felt like something was missing that somehow he wasn't doing something he should have been. He had also had encounters with her when he for some reason would stand outside her door in the middle of the night almost as if he meant to enter. He never did however as he thought it would be inappropriate.

He remembered why he had deep feelings for her when he chanced upon a memory of when he was young. They were both together living in the same house as children shared with an older man who was of some relation to him or her even more probably his. They apparently spent a lot of time together so he had assumed they were very close friends.

"Are you alright Shinji?"

"U-um yes ma'am," the confused teen shifted uncomfortably in his seat "is…is it suppose to smell in here?"

Blood 

_It smells in here, smells like blood._

"Shinji, Shinji can you here me?" Ritsuko tried again, after answering his question the boy had gone extremely silent as if deep in thought. After a few minutes he had not responded to any external stimulus.

Then it happened.

Sirens sounded and the room filled with chaos Lt. Ibuki was first to start yelling, "synch ratio above 87 the pulses are back flowing!"

A blood-curdling roar drowned out the constant wailing of the sirens, Eva-01 lifted its head from the restraint. Its eyes glowing an unholy white it ripped the Armour that held its mouth shut. "Unit 1 is going berserk! Cut the sixth fuse eject the plug!" Misato Katsuragi had known this was a bad idea from the start.

"The plugs not responding, the signal isn't getting through."

Shinji doubled over in pain he could hear something forcing its way into his mind. The pain was excruciating he could feel his mind collapsing in on itself. Nothing he did could block it out he cried out but no sound was made as he had lost the ability to emit sound. He heard a voice it was soft reassuring his head stopped throbbing the pain numbed. He could here her speaking to him as hell broke out around him, "Its okay Shinji, everything will be alright."

And then there was silence.

Unit-01 stood still its eyes returning to normal, the sirens around them ceased. The bridge crew went still no one daring to breathe for fear it would trigger something. "Borderline lost," Maya reported to her sempai "pilot life signs normal, he's unconscious."

Everyone jumped as the Entry plug ejected itself firing its rockets and sent it smashing into the ceiling. It hovered trying to gain more altitude before its fuel ran dry then plummeted to the ground. It hit with a resounding thud, the parachute not having enough time to execute.

Asuka was in a panic, she paced back and forth as she waited outside of the Nerv private hospital room. She had completely disagreed with the idea of putting Shinji into the entry plus of any Evangelion or even a test plug for that matter. It was way to early in his recovery to be expecting him to pilot or synchronize with an Evangelion. There had been a long drawn out argument over it the night before but it had ended the same way most things do in the Katsuragi household, with Misato issuing a direct order. Though it was not the Nerv operations directors' idea nor did she agree with it, it of course came straight from the top, commander Ikari himself gave the order.

It figures, his sons in accident that causes brain damage and less then 3 weeks later he orders an activation test to make sure he's still 'useable'. Waiting to see shinji was all she could do to stop herself from marching up to the commanders' office and shoving her fist in his cold face.

The past weeks had been hard on her boyfriend and at times had been harder on her. She had resolved to be there for him whenever he needed her but it was hard to be next to someone that you needed to be with and not be able to be exactly that. She would go to hold his hand while walking to school or kiss him in the morning and she would have to restrain herself from doing such simple acts of affection. One morning she had completely forgot and had slipped into bed with him. Luckily he had been in such a deep sleep he hadn't noticed her get in or leave a half hour later when she herself remembered the situation.

Misato was indisposed at the moment so the worried teen was Shinjis only support for when he awoke. She cursed her self for not being more forceful in her argument with Misato over the tests. If she perhaps had pleaded a better case to her guardian then Shinji would not be sitting in a hospital room alone and unconscious.

Asuka snapped her head to the left as she heard footsteps come from the room in which Shinji was resting. A doctor was standing between her and the door as she checked her charts "Miss Soryu, he's awake and he's asking for you."

She didn't any more then that the young girl pushed past the older woman with extreme urgency and raced through the door. The room was as bare as all the others in the hospital. The white walls were kept clean with that weird smelling disinfectant that hospitals used to keep things sterile.

The first thing the second child noted was the fact that her roommate was sitting up on the bed rather then laying down. The second was that he was facing the window away from her and the fact that he was wearing a hospital gown with nothing on underneath allowed her to see his naked…

"Shinji," she spoke up bringing the boys attention to her presence in the room, just before she developed a massive blush from starring at his naked behind. The boy looked at her blankly at first but his features softened into a smile. He stood up and walked over to her smiling slightly he stared at her intensely as if he had not seen her for days. She opened her mouth to speak but lost all words when he reached out and brushed her cheek with his hand. She stepped in closer to him losing her mind in what was happening, she realized that he did not remember her like this but at that point she didn't care.

Shinji slowly drew the beautiful girl close to him he reached up with his other hand and cupped her chin. She sighed contentedly under his touch as she remembered what it felt like to be touched by the one she loved. Sharing a quick smile Asuka managed to regain her mind and finally her voice, "are you ok?"

"I'm fine…" the boy answered pausing for a moment before completing "now I'm with you."

Startled by his words and a little confused she began to say something but was cut short as Shinji pulled her closer to him. Their lips met and Asuka was surprised that it was him kissing her and not the other way around. She soon fell deep into the kiss bringing her arms to encircle his waist she wanted this kiss to never end there was something special about it. Her heart skipped a beat as he began to draw her closer and moved his hands from her face brushing down along her shoulders and the top length of her arms.

Both teens hesitantly withdrew from the kiss but stayed in the embrace, Shinji settled his head on the girls shoulder and sighed. "I'm glad your okay," he said after a moment of silence "I heard you screaming and unit-02 going berserk I jus wanted to get to you but I couldn't, I'm sorry."

Asuka was lost for a minute and it was in no small part due to the kiss, he was talking about something that had happened weeks ago. "Uh…don't say sorry Shinji," she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder "you have nothing to apologize for. But that was a long time ago so don't worry about it now."

"A long time, Asuka it's only been a few hours," his comment made Asuka step back breaking from the embrace. Shinji looked at her suspiciously with slight regret at the missing contact between them "what did I say something…"

"Shinji, how did we meet?" The redhead asked making Shinji jump a little bye the unusual question. When she noticed how the question had affect him Asuka asked "do you know how we met?"

Shinji was confused as all hell and he let his companion know by the look on his face " Asuka are you kidding me of course I know how we met."

"Then tell me how?"

The boy still dumbfounded sighed in defeat "we met by my uncle when we were young you came and lived with me and him until we were seven."

Asuka blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes she couldn't believe it, he was back. Her Shinji had returned to her she smiled as best she could and grabbed the boy pulling him into their previous embrace though she held on much tighter then before. She sniffed softly into the base of his neck as she let a stream of tears lose. Shinji still bewildered just held her close to him trying to figure out why his answer had caused her to cry.

"Are you ok Asuka?" the now worried teen asked his girlfriend as she sobbed quietly in his embrace. The girl jus continued for the time being the tears being more happy then anything else.

Finally she recomposed herself enough to pull back and look Shinji over, her Shinji. "You," she started softly "you've been amnesic Shinji. It's been 3 weeks since the last angel since you were injured." She watched as the boys facial expression changed slightly prompting her to continue "you've been walking around with no memories until now and today you were in an activation test to see if you could still pilot. Something went wrong the Eva went berserk and you were admitted 2 hours ago."

Shinji tried to compute all this new information, he was injured in the battle he knew that but for him that was only a few hours ago tops. He couldn't believe he'd been up and walking around for weeks and not remembering who he was or even who she was. The last thing he could remember was her screaming and the pain from being hit by…gunfire.

"I thought I had lost you Shinji" the girl sobbed pulling him in once again so she could rest on his shoulder. She couldn't stop crying now her tears coming in waves of sobs "I…I shot you…it was my bullets that knocked you out," she managed between sobs and convulsions. "I…it's my fault."

The teenage boy heard her confession and just shrugged it off, he didn't want it to cause her so much pain. She didn't meant to hit him and that's all that mattered to him now he just had to make her see that, "Asuka hunny, its not your fault. You didn't mean to it was an accident."

Asuka sniffed and pulled back to look at his face once again she whipped her eyes before she dared to speak. A small smile creeping across her lips, "did…did you just call me hunny?"

"Yeah I guess I just did," Shinji smiled sheepishly. "Why don't you like it" he tried to fake disappointment.

Asuka chuckled a little though she was still crying slightly she shook her head and smiled at her boyfriend "no I quite like it, hunny." They both smiled at each other and leaned in for another kiss, mere seconds before their lips and the door burst open causing both teens to jump back, blushing furiously.

Who other then Misato Katsuragi could break up such a sweet and romantic moment with an unexpected entrance? "Shinji" the half drunk half tired operations director cried out as she flung across the room and engulfed the boy in question in a bear hug.

Shinji had no problem with this as he was quite used to it by now though he did feel like Asuka would tare holes in Misato if she didn't stop soon. Also he was begging to deplete his oxygen supply "Misato…AIR!"

"Oh sorry," the over exuberant woman smiled and pulled back from the boy but still kept him at arms length, "I was so worried about you Shinji, Unit-01 went berserk and you were knocked out an I had to report to the commanders office and I wanted nothing more then to be here when you woke up but I jus couldn't."

"It's ok Misato," Asuka pushed her way in-between her guardian and her boyfriend taking up residency in Shinji's arms. The boy didn't mind at all he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, she smiled up at him "he's fine I was here to wake him up."

"Um…" Misato looked just as confused as shinji had when he first woke up, Shinji and Asuka were embracing and Shinji didn't mind at all. "Shinji," she tried to pick something out of her mind and came to a conclusion but she had to be sure "how did we meet?"

The two teens laughed as the question was quite familiar, "Misato do you really want me to tell Asuka about the photo you sent me."

Misato smiled "its good to have you back." She moved over to the two and wrapped her arms around both of them happy things were about to be more normal again.

Asuka however was not impressed and she began to prod Shinji's ribs "what photo!" Shinji and Misato both laughed loudly as Asuka became agitated and began poking both her companions "I'm going to find that photo you know."

The empty halls of Nerv hospital resonated with the sound of laughter as a family were reunited once more.

AN: well that took a long bloody time. I kno prob not up to my usual standards but give me a break I've got a lot on my plate right now. As some of you might already know I have broken up with my girlfriend again and its over for good now, I've started school again or sumthin similar anyway so yea. And as you all know I've not written anything in a long time due to no computer no internet and also jus no inspiration. Due to the fact that im dumped and depressed tho not over that nemore but other things u may see a slight decline in either my standards or in the WAFF/Romance content in my stories for a while, as I am depressed and no longer believe in love. Don't blame me blame kristy and I can say whatever I want u stupid bitch cause this is my fic my site and your prob not gunna read them anymore anyway. But well if you do, u should know this already but I'll always love u no matter how much of a bitch u r. Even tho u already have a new bf n u don't wanna hear me say these things but I jus want you to be happy.

And to all you readers if there are any left lol I've been down n out for so long I've prob lost everyone and only a few religiously loyal ppl will read lol, but if you do read PLEASE leave a message even if its jus to say hi I read it it sucks lol. I jus like to gauge how many ppl are reading cause if I don't get enough readers I prob jus wont bother posting, no pressure lol.

Neway hope to update again soon as I seem to have a lil bit of momentum and my mothers laptop . Any direct messages that might b inappropriate for review posting then send to I also have my yahoo messenger and msn back up so add me if u want yahoo is don't send me emails to the yahoo as I only use it for chat not emails.

Seyas on da other side!


	16. Tests & Security

Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

In association with Seranov Industries

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter: 16: Tests and Security

**Nevada** **Desert** **Present Day**

Dr Allen Uzuki was not a tall man, quite short in fact so when he was trying to lecture his subordinates it was very hard to be intimidating. His placement as chief engineer and overseer of the S2 project was given to him because of his astounding knowledge in all things bio-mechanical, second only to the late Dr Yui Ikari. When NERV had sent him the core a few months ago he was amazed at the sheer mechanics of it. The ability to turn all forms of matter into pure energy without losing any of it would be the scientific breakthrough of the 20th century. If modified properly and securely tested the applications for its use would benefit mankind beyond words, unlimited power running all the time. No more nuclear waste, no more fossil burning fuels that pollute the already devastated planet. That was his dream it would be his legacy to the world, if his subordinates were not so incompetent. "How many times do I have to tell you? You do not I repeat NOT, drink and eat over the $400,000 supercomputer!"

While yelling at the two idiots he is stuck working with a woman of slender build and brown hair enters the room, "umm excuse me sir but the test will be beginning in 5 minutes."

Dr Uzuki turned to the young woman and smiles, "Thank you Talia I will be along shortly." The disgruntled Doctor scowls at the two young techs picks up the coke can next to the expensive machinery then throws it into the trash on the other side of the room, being on the collage basketball team has its perks. "If I see that again you are both being shifted to the third division," smiling at their downcast faces, he then turns on his heal and marches out of the small office and onto a long gangway. The man takes a brief moment to take in the sight of mans greatest achievement, Evangelion unit-05. In but a few minute the sleek silver Bio-mechanoid would be activated and the human races first S2 engine will be engaged giving birth to a new era of mankind.

Smiling smugly to himself he continued to the end of the walkway and into a control booth. The booth was built into the wall of the large warehouse high off the ground almost completely eyelevel with the mechanical beast. The excited gentleman took his seat in front of a large console in between 2 of his peers. He turned to them smiling that same smug smile, "lets make history shall we."

"Injecting entry plug"

"Filling plug"

"Neural connections active, pilots' life signs confirmed"

"Beginning activation sequence"

Allen watched intently as the bars on the console began to rise, bobbing up then down then up further and so on. He held his breath for more then a minute as the bar pushed beyond the yellow indicator, "borderline reached."

The tech beside him confirmed his premature statement, "Borderline reached, synch ratio holding at 23"

"Activating S2 Engine"

"S2 Engine Active, matter conversion at 79 and rising 89, 92, 97,100"

"We've done it people," the overly joyous man clapped his hands together he then proceeded to pat each and every tech in the room on the back or shoulders. "Good work everyone, contact NERV headquarters and inform commander Ikari of the success and begin preparations for a full field test immediately."

**Japan Mid 2005**

Shinji Ikari yawned languidly as the sun and clouds passed over his head, his back to the ground and his head nestled in the roots of a nearby tree. He was beginning to look forward to the day time, possibly a side effect of living with someone his own age. Today was different then most, as any child knows a day like today is filled with happiness and joy, yes it was his birthday. Having his mother die the last year his last birthday was quite and sad, he missed out on anything fun, spending his time instead in his room crying trying to figure out why his mother had left him alone this year he wasn't alone, this year he had his new friend Asuka to keep him company.

At the moment he had thought of her the young enigmatic girl in question popped into his peripheral vision, blocking out the sun sky and even the tree from view. "Hey there lazy what are you doing sitting there on your own?" she smiled sweetly, something she had gotten used to lately.

"Ummmm…sitting," Shinji answered back not paying her too much attention instead he tried to shift under her gaze so he could once again take in the beauty of the sky.

Asuka noticed the boy moving his head to each side still trying to change the view and then growled lowly "Oi are you jus gunna sit there or are you gunna get up and come with me?"

"Sit here," he replied smartly though the ensuing looks from the redhead made him rethink his options, "ok, ok I'll come with you but where are we going?"

"We are going that way" Asuka pointed him to the left, the path that led to a nearby corner store. Shinji jus looked at her confused so the impatient girl took matters into her own hands, literally. She yanked Shinji to his feet by his ear and dragged him until he submitted and fell into step behind her.

"You know you didn't need to pull my ear off Asuka," the sore boy rubbed his ear trying to return feeling, if it was even still properly attached he thought. Asuka led him down the short path and then into the shop, it was a small convenience store just the essentials very few things other then food and candy and such. Just inside the entrance they stopped and Asuka looked at Shinji as if he should know what to do, "what are you looking at me like that for Asuka you brought me here u know."

"Baka Shinji," the girl gave him a light push further into the store then pointed down a small isle of toys, "pick something." Shinji just continued to look at her confused "oh you're so dense, it's your birthday so I'm going to buy you something." She blushed a little, "but I didn't know wat to get you, so if I bring you here you chose something and then I buy it for you."

The confused boy just smiled in return, "thanks Asuka." She just smiled back then pointed once again at the isle "ok, ok." He proceeded to look up and down the isle, he had never really cared much for toys so he decided to traverse the candy isle, though he found nothing there that caught his attention he came to an unusual section. It had batteries and electronics light globes and other items of the like. He hastend his pace to get out of that section as it was of no use to him until he saw something. It was a portable cassette player the he had seen many times before, his father and mother both had ones just like it, they would always sit listening to the tapes in their study whilst working. Often his mother would hand him the second ear piece and let him listen to the music it produced. Violin, cello, flutes and trumpets he had heard them all in symphonies played through that device.

"Do you want that Shinji?" Asuka had snuck up on the boy surprising him from behind; well he did take so long in looking at the device that she had gotten impatient. She even began to wonder if his brain had stopped working or something.

Shinji smiled slightly then shook his head "no Asuka it's too much for you to get it, but thanks anyway."

"Ok well if you don't find anything you like we can go down to the shops tomorrow with your uncle." A thought crossed the redheads little mind and she smirked to herself. The two left the store but Asuka had remembered the name of the item Shinji had taken such an interest in, SDAT player.

Later that day Shinji had returned to his position under the tree, smiling brightly after a nice lunch of his favorite take away. His uncle was beginning to understand what children liked and Shinji and his redheaded counterpart were beginning to reap the benefits. His small thoughts were interrupted once again by a head clouding his vision, he sighed inwardly "you're not going to pull my ear again are you?" She didn't bother responding with words but rather handed him a small gift wrapped box. Not saying anything he took the box and eyed it off cautiously, he had gotten joke presents before you know the ones where there's a box inside a box and so on and so forth. He looked up at the girl curiously and her sweet smile urged him on, he gently tore the wrapping paper off. He couldn't help but smile, his eyes began to water at the edges and the only thing he could do was get up onto his feet and embrace his friend tightly "you're the best Asuka, thank you."

**Japan Present Day**

Commander Ikari pushed a piece across the board bring his rook within striking distances of his teachers' knight. The game had been going for the better half of a month each move was taken with the utmost care spending as much time as necessary to plan ahead to ensure victory, "have the intruders have been found?"

"We're still looking into it they used the sub tunnels to gain entry into the power conduits," Kouzou said whilst he chose a pawn to take the fall for his knight. "The fact that someone breached the facility means that we need to upgrade security, should Seele choose to seize control we would be defenceless."

Ikari gladly obliged his old friends wish to sacrifice his pawn for the greater good settling his rook into his new home "I have the security issues covered, the installation of a new defensive system is now underway."

"What have you done Ikari to ensure the safety of Lilith?"

"The new system is codenamed Cerberus it will protect everything from further intrusion."

A/N: ok ok very short I kno and YES I kno it has been like a year or more since I updated this thing damn I kno im slack, but hey I have a life u kno! I have friends a job and things to do like conqour the world and turn all u stupid humans into my slaves….wait u didn't hear me say that u heard wrong….stupid moronic humans…..wait u didn't hear that either.

I plan to skip thru the 10th angel might change it a bit never did like it much jus a big blob falling from the sky although it was fun to watch the evas play catch. My main changes will come with the 11th n I hope u will all b pleased with it im takin a gamble on this one n hope it will b both believeable and enjoyable. Now I've had ppl question wether or not kaji was just an addition cause I left him out at the beginning well the answer to that is NO he has a purpose that jus wont b revealed till I think its appropriate. Nething else u wanna ask or kno send it to me by email put fanfic as subject or I will delete! Leave the review board for exactly that reviews, constructive critiscism and most importantly flames about my crappy writing and or supremely long absence.

I will b surprised if ne1 is still reading this now but meh I don't do it for u this is for me I have yet to finish one of these multipart fics of mine n I plan to finish at least 1 or 2 prob only 1 but neway.

Cyas on da other side………


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